Francis Ngannou’s Trainer Believes The Pressure Is On Anthony Joshua
Dewey Cooper, the trainer of Francis Ngannou thinks the pressure is on Anthony Joshua to perform well on Friday.
Joshua and Ngannou are set to box on Friday night in Saudi Arabia in a highly-anticipated matchup. It’s an intriguing fight and Cooper has full confidence his fighter will get his hand raised, and do so by knockout.
“I’m taking Francis Ngannou by stoppage. Every time we go to fight the goal is victory, but we are trying to dominate our opponent and stop them,” Cooper said. “So, either knockout or unanimous-decision win, we’ll take it, but we always go in with the intent of stopping whoever is in front of us.”
Francis Ngannou is coming off a split decision loss to Tyson Fury, but despite losing, the former UFC champ’s stock actually increased, but Cooper knows Joshua is a tough out.
“We’re looking forward to March 8, showing the world how great [Ngannou] actually is and taking out Anthony Joshua,” he said. “I rate Joshua as two of the three top heavyweights in the world today – he’s been a terrific champion. He’s an Olympic gold medalist so of this era he’s one of the greats. We rate his punch power very highly. That’s what’s so intriguing about this matchup; you got two power punchers in there.”
Ultimately, Dewey Cooper believes the pressure is on Anthony Joshua on Friday. The trainer also believes Joshua hasn’t fought anyone like Ngannou which makes this a tough challenge for the Brit.
“He’s never faced anyone like Francis,” Cooper said. “This is only Francis’ second boxing fight, so of course Francis has never faced someone like him. But he’s the experienced boxer; he’s the Olympian; he’s two-time world champion. He’s never experienced anything like Francis Ngannou.”
“It’s a tall order to do a 10-round fight in your first fight. It’s an even taller order to fight the undefeated lineal champion [Tyson Fury] while he’s still in his prime. I knew we could do it; I was happy with the way it went. I was unhappy with two people that night, and those were the two judges that had us losing,” Cooper added…
“For years everyone wants to see who’s the best out of Anthony [Joshua] and Tyson Fury. So of course there’s added pressure, but it won’t matter because we’re going in to the fight to dismantle and defeat Anthony Joshua,” Cooper concluded. “So, no matter what he’s going through, he has to face this big old strong Cameroonian named ‘The Predator’ Francis Ngannou. So that’s gonna be enough already; any added pressure is just gonna make it worse.”
Do you think Francis Ngannou will beat Anthony Joshua?
