Francis Ngannou Makes Serious Allegations Against Organizers of the Anthony Joshua Fight; Eddie Hearn Claps Back

Francis Ngannou had conceded defeat to Anthony Joshua. However, days after the fight, when he’s meant to be licking his wounds, the newbie boxer has levied some serious accusations against the organizers that he suggests could have contributed to his loss against ‘AJ’.

Ahead of their early March fight, most believed that the fight between them would be neck-to-neck. With AJ’s back-to-back three wins in 2023 and Ngannou’s close brush with victory against Tyson Fury, the assumptions were more or less justified. However, when fight night dawned, Joshua ended the fight prematurely in the second round via a stunning knockout. While it was clear that AJ had outperformed the Cameroonian-French, a new theory he suggests raises some serious eyebrows. However, one of the organizers of the fight isn’t taking it lying down. In response, Eddie Hearn feels like the fighter has still not come around after the knockout.

The Trick

While appearing on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, ‘The Predator’ drew out a theory regarding a ‘trick’ that the organizers played on him. He explained, “Listen, I think we both fight at 3 a.m… what I think something that’s happened is that they get me to the arena very early. My pickup time was 10:30 to go to the arena and when we got to the arena they tell us we are scheduled around 1:45 a.m.

“And then around 1, they come to the locker… and Joshua hasn’t arrived. So I’m like we’re fighting around the same time,” he explained. “Even during the week we were going to places and have to wait and Dewey was complaining ‘They do this kind of trick to get you tired’… I didn’t know how important that was until fight week,” Ngannou revealed.

In response, AJ’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, replied to a publication’s Instagram post that had quoted the former UFC champion. He remarked, “I’m not sure he has come round yet.” Boxing reporter, Michael Benson posted screen grabs of his response on X.

Ngannou’s accusations raise some concerns. These are some serious theories he’s suggested that could jeopardize the credibility of the organizers. While he suggests that the call time could have tired him sooner than his opponent, AJ’s trainer has noted another reason for the Predator’s loss.

What Blunder did Francis Ngannou Make?

Fight night was a tad bit surprising. Ngannou switched his stance to a southpaw. “We prepared for (Francis Ngannou to switch to southpaw),” Davison told The MMA Hour Show. “We knew that he would struggle to defend. If (Anthony Joshua) did a couple of things beforehand to set a certain scenario up, he’d struggle to defend the right hand from a southpaw stance. And that’s what happened. I just think it was a mistake on his behalf.” 

AJ’s team witnessed an active weakness in the opponent’s defense. For a lot of fans, it was clear that AJ had outperformed the hard-hitter, Ngannou, throughout the fight. Is this Ngannou’s way of defending his loss against AJ? What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.

Also read: ‘Dynamite’ Francis Ngannou’s Punch was a lucky ‘One Shot’, Claims Tyson Fury