By KUNLE AWOSIYAN
None of today’s elite heavyweight boxers can easily break into the UFC ring as the former MMA champion, Francis Ngannou has done to boxing.
Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are nursing the ambition of stepping into MMA, they will find it so difficult because of the rules and their stamina.
Ngannou will crush them all inside UFC ring where strength and power are more visible than tactics.
The amount of energy expended by an average Martial Arts professional is so much compared to his counterpart in boxing where rules dominate the game more than raw power.
Joshua is a more serious boxer in the ring than Fury and can cause damage to Ngannou if the Cameroonian would be appearing for a showoff instead of a real fight.
If it were in MMA, Tyson Fury wouldn’t have been allowed to rise from the canvas after Ngannou’s hook. The Cameroonian would have pounced on the Briton and finished him off.
But the boxing rules allow a fallen opponent to rise before the count of ten and continue with the fight. Even at that, boxers have one minute interval between rounds to rest.
MMA is energy sapping, it is a brawl, it is an art of stamina while boxing is more of a science, an art of tactics.
The rules in boxing makes it more scientific and it gives advantage to boxers who are more intelligent, who have greater ring IQ and ability to box with speed and accuracy.
Of course, there is power in boxing, many champions of the game were men of lesser muscles but endurance and techniques.
The likes of Muhammad Ali, Lennox Lewis, Klitschko brothers, Larry Holmes who dominated the ring for years exercised their brains more than their punches in the ring.
Mike Tyson who came with power deduced a special tactic that made him last for a few years but failed to excel against great champions of Lewis and Evander Holyfield status whose ring IQ were better.
Friday bout between Anthony Joshua and Ngannou will favour the Briton more because of the boxing rules.
Joshua is an intelligent boxer while Ngannou is a fighter. In tomorrow’s game, I expect Joshua unlike Fury to break down Ngannou bit by bit to win the match.
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Joshua has the boxing rules to his advantage, which Ngannou is just learning and should use it to see off the Cameroonian instead of going into a brawl with the former UFC champion.
Apart from the fact that the boxing gloves are more padded than the MMA gloves, Ngannou’s performance against Fury has shown that the former UFC champion can receive big punches and still stand.
Ngannou is also a hard puncher but would need to bring his MMA mentality to the boxing ring if at all he has the intention to stay in the game.
Joshua will box, he will clinch. He will run away from heavy punches and move Ngannou round the ring for a boxing tutorials but then he must be very careful from stray blow.
Joshua is a more serious boxer in the ring than Fury and can cause damage to Ngannou if the Cameroonian would be appearing for a showoff instead of a real fight.
I once wrote that Ngannou’s maiden boxing bout was more of a showoff and an opportunity to announce himself, with “I can do it mentality”.
Now, he should come with “I can win it mentality”. This will make the fight very interesting as it will bring out the “A” performance from Joshua who has since become a better boxer.
Joshua will box, he will clinch. He will run away from heavy punches and move Ngannou round the ring for a boxing tutorials but then he must be very careful from stray blow.
Good luck to these African warriors
