British media revealed that Anthony Joshua appeared confused and seemed to “not know clearly” that the upcoming match with Francis Ngannou would only have 10 rounds…

The “heavyweight” fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou will be the focus of the most popular boxing event this coming March, called “Knock-out Chaos”, taking place in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

This is the first fight in 2024 for Anthony Joshua, a 34-year-old two-time world champion. As for former UFC king Francis Ngannou, this is only the second time stepping onto the professional boxing ring, after an impressive match with Tyson Fury at the end of October last year.

Also because Ngannou is just getting his feet wet on the professional boxing stage, the next match with Joshua will only be 10 rounds, like the Fury – Ngannou match, instead of 12 rounds as is standard practice. However, it seems that Joshua “doesn’t really know this yet”.

“Will I have to be ready to fight 10 or 12 rounds? 10 rounds, is that correct?”, the Mirror quoted the situation where the British boxer appeared confused during the face-to-face meeting with Ngannou when they both fought. wave of interviews.

To be exact, in his illustrious professional boxing career with 30 fights (27 wins, 3 losses, 24 KO wins) starting in October 2013, the last time Anthony Joshua only fought 10 rounds was recently. .. 9 years.

That was the WBC International heavyweight title defense against Kevin Johnson in May 2015. In that match, Joshua easily “finished” his opponent with a technical knockout victory right in the second round, instead of needing 10 rounds. Since then, all of Joshua’s matches have taken place in the standard 12-round format.

Obviously, fighting 10 or 12 rounds will not be a problem for Joshua. But for Francis Ngannou, choosing the 10-round option is almost mandatory and is “vital” for a “newcomer to professional boxing”.

When asked in an interview that also included Joshua, “why is it a 10-round fight instead of 12?”, Ngannou revealed the specific reason.

“They told me the fight would last 12 rounds and I said ‘No, cut it short!’ I couldn’t declare ‘I’m a professional boxer!’ and go into the ring.” Like a Mike Tyson fight. No! In fact, I’m just taking my first steps in professional boxing.”

Ngannou (right) has only had one professional boxing match, against Tyson Fury last October in 10 rounds.

Remember, the 10 rounds (3 minutes each) with Tyson Fury also in Saudi Arabia last October was recorded as the “longest match” in Ngannou’s fighting martial arts career. Previously, in the UFC arena, Ngannou’s longest match only lasted a little more than 25 minutes.

After losing a controversial point to Tyson Fury, Ngannou hopes that the upcoming 10-round match with Joshua will continue to be a launching pad for his professional boxing career, before aiming for further achievement milestones and especially rematch with Fury himself.

Meanwhile, this match is said to “come very suddenly” to Anthony Joshua. In fact, Joshua’s number 1 priority is to fight “knock out machine” Deontay Wilder. But the defeat of the puncher who once held the WBC world title, Wilder, against Joseph Parker late last year ruined the Joshua – Wilder contract that had been built, negotiated, and scheduled for 7 years.

Now, the 10-round match with Ngannou is seen by most experts as a “quality rehearsal” for Joshua, before the British boxer aims for a title match in the middle of this year and beyond to regain the throne. No. 1 in the heavyweight boxing world.

In his last fight, Joshua broke the nose of his tough opponent Otto Wallin at the famous boxing event “Day of Reckoning” before Christmas last year.