When Francis Ngannou stepped in the ring this past October to challenge Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut, everyone from oddsmakers to pundits were expecting the “Gypsy King” to have a relatively easy night of work. However, the former UFC heavyweight champion shocked nearly everyone watching in a narrow-split decision loss in which he scored a third-round knockdown.
However, this time Francis Ngannou’s upcoming opponent, two-time champ Anthony Joshua, is fully aware of what the Cameroon-born fighter is capable of.
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That fact is not lost upon Dewey Cooper, Francis Ngannou’s coach since 2017. In an appearance on Sportsnaut’s Scrap Report, the Team Combat League president welcomed the challenge and believes his student will showcase his “next evolution” against Joshua.
“Yes, it’s gone and I’m happy. Because we don’t need a surprise to defeat someone. Francis is the real deal guys. He’s different. He’s not something that we can quite put in our timeline. He’s something else,” Cooper said. “His first two fights in boxing and he’s fighting two of the three best heavyweights of this generation. I mean, come on. That’s crazy” he continued.
Even with 10 rounds of footage from Joshua’s camp to comb through ahead of their March 8 meeting, Cooper believes that the improvements Ngannou will have made in between fights will more than makeup for any lost surprise.
Cooper, a veteran coach with his own combat sports background worthy of a spot in the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, pinpoints increased stamina as one of the many aspects of Ngannou’s game that have leveled up since the Fury bout.
Dewey Cooper: Francis Ngannou Won’t Need ‘Surprise Tactic’
“We don’t need a surprise tactic. We want people to know what’s coming for them. A guy with better skills than you thought, bigger than what you thought, stronger than what you thought, more athletic than what you thought and it’s only going to get worse for the people standing in front of him…he’s going to improve faster than what they can study him. Every fight he’s going to leap, leap, leap as far as experience and improvement.”
As far as what Ngannou’s team anticipates from the opposing corner, Cooper admits that the Olympic gold medalist brings “more than what meets the eye.”
Also Read: Francis Ngannou Has Plans For Next Fighter After Anthony Joshua
“You can’t forget about the equalizer he has. He has power in the right hand…He can put people’s lights out with that right hand,” Cooper told Sportsnaut. While he feels Joshua, who has won 24 fights by way of knockout, doesn’t present the complex puzzle as Fury, the “element of danger” is more prevalent.
Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua will square off on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Cooper will then turn his attention to Team Combat League, a promotion that combines city-based teams with boxing. The league’s second season kicks off on March 28.
