Heavyweight contender and trainer differ on Joshua and Ngannou's chances in the March 8 bout

Heavyweight title hopeful Martin Bakole has offered his prediction ahead of the recently announced crossover fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, where he believes that the fight will end inside the distance.

Ngannou shocked the world when he knocked down Tyson Fury in the third round of a fight that was expected to be a one-sided win for the WBC champion, before losing a disputed split decision.

Now, the former UFC superstar has the opportunity to go one better and defeat Joshua, to put the world of boxing on notice, with their fight coming out of the blue and formally announced last week.

In an interview with iFL TV, Bakole shared his intrigue and excitement at the bout, pondering how Ngannou will fare against an opponent who takes him more seriously, and predicting an upset.

“He [Fury] took Ngannou easy, not too serious. He thought he would stop him by round five but Ngannou took it seriously and thought that if he stopped Tyson Fury he would make a name for himself in boxing.

“To be honest, Joshua is going to be different [to Fury] because Joshua saw Ngannou was coming to the box [versus Fury] as well, he will take it seriously.

“Ngannou as well is coming into it, wanting to make a name for himself in boxing, everyone is surprised [at how good he looked] after the Tyson Fury fight.

“He is a good man, he has got a good heart and he’s got everything up there if he lands on Joshua, I think that he will stop him because this time he is taking it seriously as well and he will be working hard on it [his boxing skills].”

Joshua-Ngannou will take place on March 8th in Riyadh, whilst Bakole has announced his ambitions to challenge Manuel Charr for the WBA Regular heavyweight title, as he continues to pursue world honours.

But Martin Bakole’s trainer, Billy Nelson, said Ngannou has already claimed Joshua has ‘no chin.’

“I fully expect Joshua to knock him out and beat him very comfortably,” he said.

In Ngannou’s fight against Fury, he said: “Fury won against Ngannou, but I think expectations of Ngannou were very low. Fury’s performance was very poor, and he’s admitted it.

“We might get a better idea against AJ. If it goes the distance with AJ, people can’t be so slanderous about Fury’s performance against Ngannou, and then Martin can go and stop him.”