Anthony Joshua might beat Francis Ngannou in three rounds in response to the British fighter's promoter Eddie Hearn. Former UFC world champion Ngannou surprised the world of boxing on Saturday evening when he put WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on the canvas earlier than going the complete 10-round distance with the Gypsy King solely to be denied a debut victory by a controversial cut up choice.

Undefeated Fury was anticipated to simply win the crossover boxing contest that had been billed as 'The Battle of the Baddest', however as an alternative he was given a tricky examination by the MMA star, who was showing in his first-ever skilled boxing match.

The spectacle, which came about in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has already considerably raised the profile of Ngannou on the earth of boxing, however Matchroom promoter Hearn was extra concerned about specializing in the efficiency of Fury, who can depend himself fortunate to not have misplaced his undefeated file within the Middle East.

Speaking on MailOnline's The Hook podcast, Hearn mentioned: "People saying 'oh, he's let the boxing world down' - I don't think that really matters. I think it was good for boxing in that it was an incredible spectacle. What Saudi Arabia did with the production, and the ring walks was amazing.

"But earlier than the combat I gave Francis Ngannou zero likelihood of successful, like, on paper it is simply essentially the most horrible mismatch. A man who has by no means had knowledgeable boxing match. And I believe there was positively a component of Tyson wanting via him, he wasn't as nicely ready as he ought to have been, nevertheless it was nonetheless an terrible efficiency.

"They're now talking about Ngannou as arguably the number one in the heavyweight division, and it's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard because he was definitely much better than people expected he would be - but he can get beat by anybody from English title level (all the way up) to the number one. But there's some big fights out there for him now."

Hearn went on to disclose that he had held discussions together with his personal man Joshua concerning the prospect of dealing with Ngannou six months earlier than the ex-UFC star stepped into the ring to face Fury on Saturday. But the Londoner dismissed the thought as a gimmick and insisted that he was solely centered on regaining the world heavyweight title.

But since Ngannou has now proven that he might match Fury each step of the way in which over 10 rounds, the Matchroom boss now believes that the MMA star have to be thought-about a reputable opponent for the likes of Joshua and Deontay Wilder.

Hearn additionally mentioned that he felt for Ngannou who in his eyes had been denied one of many biggest victories in all of sport by the judges' choice.

"Fury looked scared in the back end of the fight," mentioned Hearn. "Every time they got in a clinch, he looked like he was getting flung around. It was a difficult fight in that no one really did a lot in the back end but - but because [Ngannou] dropped him and because he won those early two rounds, for me, he won the fight.

"When the ultimate bell went, I went oh my God, he is misplaced. Most folks's response was that Ngannou gained the combat. I can not consider it. Fury seemed just like the man who's by no means boxed earlier than."

After losing to Oleksandr Usyk last August, Joshua has bounced back to beat Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius. But when asked how he rated AJ's chances against Ngannou, a bullish Hearn said: "We love the combat. It's an enormous combat in Saudi that might create historical past in Africa, like a Rumble within the Jungle two. It's huge.

"The crazy thing is, some people are calling it a 50-50 fight. So I'm all over it. If you really think that, make the fight. I know AJ wins that fight inside three, six rounds max. So we'll see. But Ngannou, got to give him the credit. He's a big strong boy, and he's put himself in a strong position."