‘Ngannou could KO glass jaw Anthony Joshua‘
IBF champion Ebanie Bridges who was speaking on behalf of Betting Sites heaped praise on Francis Ngannou after his boxing debut and claimed Tyson Fury was fearful of his raw power.
The ‘Blonde Bomber’ hammered the controversial scoring in Riyad which saw the Gypsy King snatch a split decision and believes Ngannou showed he has the ability to knock Anthony Joshua out.
Tyson Fury feared ‘explosive’ Ngannou’s power
Ebanie Bridges has KO’d her fair share of opponents and says she could see the fear in Tyson Fury’s eyes after Francis Ngannou put the Gypsy King on his backside in the third round;
“Fury was scared. He got knocked down in the third round. He knew that if he let his hands go, he’d be open. Ngannou kept swapping and switching stance, and that’s really awkward. He was explosive, he had little Mike Tyson moves that he must have taught him in training.
“People will say Fury was bad and should have used his jab more, but he was getting countered. I think it was really Ngannou controlling that fight, big time.”
Ngannou could KO glass jaw Anthony Joshua
Bridges has been critical of Anthony Joshua’s punch resistance in the past and was in little doubt that Francis Ngannou could leave AJ on the canvas after seeing him floor Tyson Fury on Saturday night;
“Of course [he could knock him out]. He’s got the power. Anthony Joshua has a bit of a glass chin, doesn’t he? He can get dropped and he seemingly gets hurt in every single fight.
“Joshua got hurt by Usyk, and he’s not even known for his power. So yeah, most definitely.”
Fury elbow on Ngannou looked ‘real’ when slowed down
Ngannou was furious with Fury for hitting him with an elbow during their exhibition bout and the Blonde Bomber believes that the Brit was fortunate to escape having a point deducted;
“If you watch that elbow in real time, it does look a bit like an accident, but when it’s slowed down, it does look pretty real. But I mean, he shrugged it off, didn’t he?
“You have to realise these MMA fighters, they get shin-kicked, elbowed, kneed bone on bone to their heads. I feel like you can never expect to hurt an MMA fighter or a Thai boxer.”
Scoring was ridiculous – a draw would’ve been correct
Fury prevailed over Ngannou via split decision in Riyad. One judge scored the bout 96-93, meaning he awarded the debutant just one round apart from the 10-8 round, a result which left Bridges bemused;
“Yeah, that’s ridiculous. I would have been happy with the draw, which means that Ngannou would have won because of the point deduction. But to be fair, it really was a close fight. I’d have to watch it back, because watching it live you do get a bit emotional.
“I always like to watch fights back, you see a little bit differently when you’re not as emotional. However, I think I would have given it to Ngannou – I thought he was landing lots of body shots throughout, he was in control.”
