George Groves has told Anthony Joshua his career will be over if he loses to Francis Ngannou.
Joshua will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8 in what will be just the Cameroonian’s second professional boxing fight. Ngannou dropped Tyson Fury in the third round of their clash last October before losing a narrow split-decision.
Joshua, meanwhile, stopped Otto Wallin two days before Christmas to record his third victory of 2023. He knows victory will set him up for a potential shot at the winner of Fury’s undisputed clash with Oleksandr Usyk which will take place on February 17. But Groves believes defeat will bring a sudden end to Joshua’s distinguished career.
Ngannou hasn’t been boxing long, how can he defeat an Olympic champion who went on to win multiple world titles? AJ’s not past his best, he’s not on the way out,” he told Grosvenor Sport. He looked flat at the start of last year but he looked a real force against Wallin. So I hope he puts it on Ngannou and doesn’t put safety first. I hope he comes out hungry to make a statement, I think AJ can knock Ngannou out. I think he needs to win and win well.
“And if he doesn’t, we need to stop caring about the heavyweight division, it would be a farce. It would not happen in any other sport. You wouldn’t get Conor McGregor getting anywhere near anyone in the top ten in boxing. Joshua should easily out box him. Joshua has got it all to lose, a loss for Joshua would be curtains. His last defeat was against Oleksandr Usyk, who I think is a phenomenal fighter, whereas this time around, if he loses to Ngannou, a guy in his second fight, that’s going to be a disaster.
“There will be a question mark over his career and legacy, especially because he’s not a faded fighter, he’s not shot, it’s not like Ngannou will be catching Joshua as the tail end of his career. AJ put in a really good performance against Wallin but if he’s beaten by Ngannou that’s a nightmare. It’s a big pressure fight. It would be a bigger shock than Buster Douglas beating Tyson. Douglas wasn’t a bad fighter and Tyson was a ticking time bomb. That was a major, major shock, but Ngannou beating AJ would top it surely.”
