Ben Davison Says Francis Ngannou ‘Is A Very Credible Opponent’ For Anthony Joshua

Ben Davison believes Francis Ngannou is a very credible opponent for Anthony Joshua.

Ngannou and Joshua are set to fight in Saudi Arabia in March in a highly-anticipated matchup. Ngannou is coming off his pro boxing debut, which he lost by split decision to Tyson Fury, in a fight he also dropped the Brit.

Although Anthony Joshua is the betting favorite, his trainer Ben Davison isn’t taking Ngannou lightly as he knows it is a tough fight for the Brit.

“I know Tyson, obviously. I’ve worked with him,” Davison said at the Joshua-Ngannou launch press conference this week (h/t BoxingScene). “He’s a very professional athlete. He takes his job very seriously. He would have prepared properly for Ngannou. Now, mentally sometimes it’s hard to put yourself in that position where you fully have respect for the opponent. Even though you’re trying to do all the right things, sometimes that’s not there. Only he can answer those questions, but Ngannou shocked all of us and I think he’s a very credible opponent.”

Ben Davison is still confident Anthony Joshua has all the tools to beat Francis Ngannou. The trainer, however, isn’t taking any credit as people have said Joshua is better since working with Davison, which he says the praise needs to go to the boxer.

“I can’t speak for him but my experience is [that he’s] extremely coachable,” he said. “I feel like trust got built to a certain point where I needed it to be just before the Otto Wallin fight. There was a few things before going into the fight where I was extremely confident that that trust was there. Now, each fight is different and you have to keep building on that but I think that the way we coach suits the type of character that he is.”

Do you think Anthony Joshua will beat Francis Ngannou?