Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou is a once-fantasy fight that has now fallen into the lap of boxing fans and, whether we need it or not, it actually makes sense.

Partly because Ngannou’s boxing debut saw him give absolute hell to Tyson Fury, in a fight that really only took place because the Gypsy King had exhausted the undisputed avenue.

After such a debut, it was only right Ngannou returned with something colossal, and a fight with Joshua is exactly that.

It is crazy that we are actually here though. Sure, Ngannou’s name had been flirted with in the past for Joshua, but never did anyone believe that if the pair were to meet, the ex-UFC world champion would be coming in as some sort of elite heavyweight gauge.

Joshua is genuinely under immense pressure to beat a fighter who has yet to even register a professional victory in the squared circle. How on earth did we get here?

I suppose you could give quite a damning answer to such a question. Ngannou has literally booted the boxing door off its hinges, waltzed inside, and fought two of the sport’s biggest financial draws back-to-back. It’s almost rude of him.

Yet still Ngannou manages to be the politest man in the room. He encompasses everything brilliant about combat sports and its art of storytelling.

He went from being ‘the man’ in his discipline, to playing the role of a plucky yet powerful underdog against Fury in October, and he was undeniably brilliant at it.

And best of all? He showed us he can really fight!

So now that he is heading into battle with a reinvigorated Joshua, we could have some serious fun on our hands.

Of course, a lot of that is down to the fact that both men punch with enough force to knock out a stallion, which is undeniably the greatest selling point a fight can have.

However, for me, the approach will be just as interesting as the fist that follows it.

Joshua typically takes on a hostile attitude towards fighters he feels aren’t quite on his level. His two most recent wins, over Otto Wallin and Robert Helenius, buy into that.

So despite his performance against Fury, I can’t see anything else other than Joshua viewing Ngannou as the ‘n*vice’ that he is. If he does, I’m sure he will try to play up to the ‘Knockout Chaos’ billing.

And I presume being the warrior that he is, Ngannou would welcome a full throttle Joshua with open arms - and probably a few looping right hands too.

It could, for as long or short as it lasts, make for ridiculously entertaining viewing. Even better? We genuinely have no idea what to expect.

Because knowing what to expect gives us a sense of security, and heavyweight boxing should be anything but secure. You can be inch perfect, but a small mistake is punishable by the biggest sentence. And, with these two utter specimens, well…

That sentence will be a serious goodnight.

Oscar Bevis

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