UFC icon Rashad Evans has made a remarkably bold prediction regarding Francis Ngannou’s upcoming colossal bout against Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou made waves in the boxing world last year when he went the distance against Tyson Fury in his boxing debut, following his departure from the UFC as the promotion’s heavyweight champion. Despite dropping the WBC titleholder during the fight, he ultimately faced a contentious decision loss on the judges’ scorecards.
Now, Ngannou is set to take on another heavyweight titan, Joshua, on March 8. Joshua, the former world heavyweight titleholder who relinquished his titles to Oleksandr Usyk in 2021, is currently riding a three-fight winning streak.
After suffering consecutive defeats to the undefeated Ukrainian star, Joshua bounced back with victories over Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius, culminating in a dominant performance against Otto Wallin in his last outing on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card.
As Ngannou prepares to step back into the ring against Joshua, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Evans is backing him to claim the world heavyweight title in boxing.
“It’s hard for me to put anything past Francis, man. That performance and now he’s gonna be fighting Anthony Joshua,” Evans expressed to Give Me Sport.
“I mean, I think he’s gonna do it. I predicted the end of [2023] and I said: ‘I think that Francis Ngannou is gonna be a heavyweight boxing champ by the end of the year’.”
Despite falling short against Fury, Ngannou’s formidable display against one of the division’s finest fighters earned him widespread acclaim in the boxing realm. Now, just months after causing a stir against the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy King’, Ngannou aims to make his mark in the boxing arena when he faces Joshua next month.
