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Friday, 8 March 2024

Boxing Picks 2024- Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou (March 8th)

Knockout Chaos comes to our television screens on Friday evening with another big card put together by Saudi Arabia, who continue to have a major influence on a number of sports.

In recent week/months, the likes of golf, tennis and snooker have all begun to offer partnerships with Saudi Arabia, or have sports directly taken over, while Formula One will be here this weekend.

Boxing events need the cash influx to really put the fights together that the fans want to see and, to that end, it has been a positive financial boost not only for the fighters and promoters, but also for the fans.

Of course it is almost impossible to disregard other issues, but that will not stop people tuning in for another big night of Heavyweight Boxing.

And if the investments being made continue to be made, the likes of Conor Benn vs Manny Pacquiao and Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol may be the next big cards to be headlined in the country.


At least we are getting some of the big fights together, but the same cannot be said of Canelo Alvarez who has yet to announce his next bout despite the rumoured May 4th date fast approaching.

It looked like he was leaving his contract with PBC, who have been rumoured to be struggling financially, was coming to an end, but the latest seems to be that there has been a breakthrough in the talks and Canelo's next fight will be under the PBC banner.

The only real disappointment is that David Benavidez is very unlikely to be standing on the other side of the ring- no one will deny Canelo Alvarez has achieved enough in Boxing to make his own decisions as to who to face next, but holding the Super Middleweight Belts hostage while avoiding the clear top contender is not a good look.

David Benavidez looks like he will bid to close other serious options to Canelo by moving up to Light Heavyweight and pursuing the Undisputed Titles at that weight instead. He has admitted he can go back down to Super Middleweight too and will be looking to operate between the two Divisions, but for now it looks like the big showdown between the Mexican Monster and the icon Canelo Alvarez will have to wai at least six months and possibly even twelve months.


March looks to be another solid month of Boxing action, but it is the Easter Weekend which really looks to be the exciting one to tune in for.

That is when PBC's first card with Amazon is set to go headlined by Tim Tszyu vs Keith Thurman, while I am really looking forward to the Fabian Wardley vs Frazer Clarke bout on the same weekend in London.

Dillian Whyte is also back this week having had his suspension for failing a test overturned and he will be returning as the headline act in Ireland on St Patrick's Day.

But before we get to all of the excitement of the rest of the month, a big card in Saudi Arabia will be looking to deliver the Knockout Chaos that fans love to see.



Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou

I did have to go back and remind myself of how I felt when Tyson Fury was set to face Francis Ngannou back in October.

The feeling was that Tyson Fury would not want to risk his Undisputed Fight with Oleksandr Usyk, which had been signed off for December, but the best laid plans can be scuppered one a single punch in the Heavyweight Division.

Francis Ngannou landed that and put Fury down, but the latter did enough to earn the victory on the cards, even if some felt it was controversial.

That performance has made Ngannou a much more dangerous looking fighter and he now has an opportunity to face Anthony Joshua.

A big performance against Otto Wallin has just reminded fans of the 'old' Anthony Joshua and there is little doubt activity has been a big help. The carrot at the end of the stick is that a win here will have the Saudi Arabian investors pushing to set Anthony Joshua up with the winner of the Fury-Oleksandr Usyk Undisputed Fight in May.

You have to accept that Francis Ngannou looked decent enough in the fight with Tyson Fury, but that was a poor outing from Fury. There is little doubt that he was not nearly as prepared as he would have been if he had seen a performance like that from Francis Ngannou before, while the style may actually have suited the novice coming across from the world of MMA.

This time Anthony Joshua will have known that Ngannou is dangerous and that will mean he is fully focused on the task at hand.

And that should be bad news for the underdog, even if he makes a point that a fight outside the boxing ring may play out very differently, especially if it was taking place in the Octagon.

Unfortunately for Francis Ngannou, this fight is not taking place anywhere but a Boxing ring and the fundamentals of Anthony Joshua should make him a bigger favourite than the layers believe.

He is plenty strong and Anthony Joshua looked to have really gotten on board with what was asked of him by new trainer Ben Davison. The game plan will likely see Joshua working behind his jab and trying to force Francis Ngannou to move and have to exert a lot of energy early on.

The Cameroonian former UFC Heavyweight Champion did gas some in his fight with Tyson Fury and the feeling is that Anthony Joshua will look to keep things long and use those fundamentals of Boxing to keep Ngannou off-balance and ultimately wear him down.

Going the full Ten Rounds may not be a massive surprise, but the feeling is that Anthony Joshua may be able to let go of enough big shots to force a Stoppage in the second half of the fight. Once the gas tank empties, Francis Ngannou might overcommit to trying to land the one big, fight changing punch, but that could play into Anthony Joshua's hands as he looks to make sure everyone can see that he has gotten the better of how Tyson Fury did for a second bout in a row.

Styles make fights and the feeling is that this one might suit Anthony Joshua more than Tyson Fury and the former Unified Champion can put a statement performance on the board.


The Day of Reckoning card in December seemed to be loaded from top to bottom and it was never going to be easy to replicate that.

However, the card for this event is still decent enough for those tuning in for an early evening of Boxing.

Sad news was revealed by Kevin Lerena on Thursday when announcing the passing of his mother, but he has declared that he will still enter the ring against Justis Huni.

Plenty of fighters have found motivation out of such sad circumstances and Huni is not nearly as good as his strong favouritism for the bout suggests. The Australian might still do enough, but Keven Lerana is a big price and one that may intrigue some out there.

We have seen him put down Daniel Dubois, whose reputation is pretty decent after giving Oleksandr Usyk some problems and then outworking Jarrell Miller, so Kevin Lerena might be a very big price to earn a victory.


One of the more surprising fights on the undercard features Mark Chamberlain taking on Gavin Gwynne and there is a school of thought that may believe the latter is struggling to get down to the weight.

He is facing a big puncher and Gavin Gwynne was hurt in his last win against a veteran Italian with only a surprising injury turning the tide in that bout.

This may be a good time for Mark Chamberlain to take the step up and he can become the second man to stop Gavin Gwynne as he continues his development towards a World Title.


A fight that looked to be taken off the card after some uncertainty has been restored to the card and Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov are going to be facing off for a vacant World Title.

That has only increased the status of what looked like being a very good fight before the WBA Light Middleweight Title was attached and it is no surprise that Madrimov is the favourite.

Both may have unbeaten records, but Liam Smith will feel he was robbed when losing on the cards to Kurbanov in Russia in 2021.

Like his opponent, Magomed Kurbanov had some trouble in beating Michel Soro in his last fight, while he is also travelling for the first time.

I do think Israil Madrimov will win the fight, but the doubt over the issue that almost saw him withdrawn from the card makes it that much more difficult to make a selection with any kind of confidence.


However, there is a bit more belief in Nick Ball and it really feels like the British fighter is getting his shot at the WBC World Featherweight Title.

Wrecking Ball has really impressed as he has continued his unbeaten progress as a professional and he gets the opportunity to become a World Champion in just his tenth fight. There is every chance Nick Ball will be back in Saudi Arabia for the five vs five card putting rivals Matchroom and Queensberry into direct competition with one another, but much will depnd on Ball winning this fight.

Rey Vargas is the much taller fighter and he has moved up the weights to become a World Champion in different Divisions, but last time out he took a step too far when losing his unbeaten record to O'Shaquie Foster.

His last defence of this World Title saw Rey Vargas put down and having to win by Split Decision and it felt like his move to Super Featherweight had been down to struggles in making weight.

The Champion has the length and the qualities to try and keep Nick Ball at bay, but the feeling is that the fresher fighter will be willing to do what it takes to get close. Once there, Ball can certainly hurt Rey Vargas to the body, especially if weight is a factor and this could be a huge night for the Liverpudlian.

Nick Ball is unlikely to allow Rey Vargas to coast at any time and if there are any doubts about this weight Division or whether the hunger is still there to compete, the Challenger can certainly exploit that and win the World Title without needing the judges on the night.


Some have suggested the real main event on this card is the big Heavyweight fight between Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, who is putting his Interim WBO World Title on the line.

Both of these fighters had very strong 2023 calendar years- Parker upset Deontay Wilder, while Zhang upset Joe Joyce twice and in big Knock Out wins.

The second of those was very impressive, but this is going to be a different challenge for Big Bang against an opponent who should be much more elusive than Joyce has tended to be.

Beating Wilder is a huge performance, but the whole idea of Joseph Parker being on some massive resurgence since losing to Joe Joyce is perhaps overplayed. Credit has to be given to him for beating the former WBC Champion in December, but you have to wonder how much of that was down to an inactive Deontay Wilder and one who seemed to struggle to want to let his hands go.

Prior to that win, Joseph Parker had beaten Jack Massey in an underwhelming performance before Stopping Faiga Opelu in a Round and Simon Kean in the Third Round.

Those are wins that are hardly the most impressive.

On the other hand Zhilei Zhang's reputation has been greatly enhanced by those wins over Joe Joyce, but some will feel he should have been given the nod when he lost a tight fight to Filip Hrgovic. Conditioning is a big test for Zhang at 40 years old, but he hits hard and fast and that makes him dangerous.

The expectation is that Joseph Parker will not be nearly as hittable as Joe Joyce and he will feel he can outwork Zhilei Zhang once getting through some of the awkward early Rounds.

However, he cannot expect Zhang to be as patient or inactive as Deontay Wilder and that is what makes this an intriguing contest.

Both know that they are perhaps a win or two away from another World Title shot and so they cannot afford to overlook one another. Activity has helped Joseph Parker, but he still has something to prove, while Zhilei Zhang looked really good on the scales.

Styles make fights and rarely does Boxing work where Fighter A beats Fighter B and Fighter B beats Fighter C so Fighter A should beat Fighter C. The style of Joseph Parker should definitely give Zhilei Zhang more to think about than when he faced Joe Joyce, but there is also more likelihood that Zhang will give Parker more to think about than a surprisingly passive Deontay Wilder did.

This makes this a hugely intriguing fight to watch as the chief support.

It really does feel like either Zhang gets this one done through the first half of the contest or Joseph Parker is going to be able to really take control as the gas tank runs down for the Interim Champion.

The lean has to be with Zhilei Zhang to earn another Stoppage win and that is largely down to the fact that there have been signs that Joseph Parker is not as granite as he once was. Recent wins have covered up some of the shortcomings, but Zhang is not likely to be put his hands in his pockets as Deontay Wilder did in December and he will test how much Parker has left.

Ultimately it may be enough to secure the win inside the distance with the speed of the hands and the power in both that could just break down Joseph Parker in what should be another quality Heavyweight contest.

MY PICKS: Anthony Joshua to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Mark Chamberlain to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.87 Sky Bet (1 Unit)
Nick Ball to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 3.75 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Zhilei Zhang to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.00 William Hill (1 Unit)

Boxing 2024: 11-14, + 10.05 Units (40 Units Staked, + 25.13% Yield)

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