ANTHONY JOSHUA has been warned not to make the same mistake Tyson Fury made against Francis Ngannou.
AJ will continue his career rebuild with a shock crossover clash with the former UFC heavyweight champion in Saudi Arabia next month.
PAAnthony Joshua throws down with former UFC champ Francis Ngannou next month[/caption]
GETTYNgannou shocked the world last October by dropping Tyson Fury in their crossover clash[/caption]
GETTYFury’s cousin and trainer Andy Lee has warned AJ not to ‘underestimate’ the MMA mountain[/caption]
Ngannou shocked the world last October with his display in his Riyadh rumble with Fury, whom he cut and dropped in his split decision defeat.
And Fury’s cousin and trainer Andy Lee has warned the Watford warrior not to overlook and “underestimate” the boxing novice in their desert dust-up.
The former WBO middleweight champion told Boxing Social: “People are going to be interested because Ngannou put on such a great performance against Tyson.
“It’s a great situation for Joshua because all of those unknowns that Tyson went up against have been dispelled now.
“The element of surprise in Ngannou is gone.
“You’ve got to give Ngannou credit, he was a lot more savvy and a lot better at boxing than anyone might’ve given him credit for [in the build-up to the Fury fight].
“He’s quite clever, he is very patient as well and you can see that he is strong.
“Don’t underestimate being 280lbs of solid muscle.
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ANTHONY JOSHUA VS FRANCIS NGANNOU: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE CROSSOVER BOUT
“When you strip things back it is just two men and one of these guys is huge and is pure muscle.”
AJ, like the rest of the boxing world, was stunned to see Ngannou put Fury on his backside in his professional boxing debut.
And Watford warrior insists he’ll be minding his Ps and Qs against the MMA man mountain.
He said: “If Tyson underestimated Ngannou, I sure won’t. Francis has lost the element of surprise with me.
“We knew Francis had a reputation as the biggest puncher in the world but the surprise was how well he boxed.
“He was exceptional on the inside and made life very complicated for Tyson.
“So much so that I do belong to the opinion that he beat Fury.”