A funny thing happened in late October in Saudi Arabia. Francis Ngannou didn't read the script. While Tyson Fury technically won their fight, he embarrassed himself and in the eyes of some observers, the game of boxing.
What was supposed to be an easy and short night at the Boulevard Hall in Riyadh for the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, instead became a mighty struggle. Ngannou, a boxing novice, actually floored 'the Gypsy King' in round three.
To paraphrase the words of 'Duke' to Apollo Creed in the original 'Rocky, "He didn't know it was a damn show, Ngannou thought it was a damn fight."
Tyson Fury Survives Knockdown, Gets Decision Win Over Francis Ngannou | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS
And while Ngannou came out on the short end of a split verdict (95-94, 94-95 and 96-93), he had legitimized himself as a prizefighter, and earned himself another payday against another well-known heavyweight, Anthony Joshua.
Coming into what they have dubbed 'Knockout Chaos' on Friday at the Kingdom Arena, the element of surprise is no longer in existence for Ngannou. It's clear that despite his inexperience in the squared circle that he has competent boxing skills, and undoubted power and strength.
Give him credit, he's the best paid 0-1 fighter in the history of the sport.
DAZN
And now he faces 'AJ' who in the past has been chinny, and has had his own insecurities in the ring exposed. But this version of Joshua seems to be in a very good place. After losing his rematch to Oleksandr Usyk in the summer of 2022, he reeled off three victories last year, which culminated in a dominant effort versus Otto Wallin back in December. Could it be that he has his mojo back under the direction of trainer Ben Davison?
He believes last year helped him regain his momentum.
Oh, so activity matters, huh?
Regardless, what we have here are two big men who will be facing off. Conventional wisdom says that Joshua should come away with the victory. But based on his past history and what we saw back in the fall, can we be sure of that?
KING RY
So as of now, the showdown between WBC junior welterweight belt-holder, Devin Haney, and Ryan Garcia on April 20 at the Barclay Center is a go.
In the past several days Garcia has put up some rather interesting postings on social media. It has people questioning his mental state given his past. But others believe he is just taken to promoting this fight to the very extreme.
But lets say he is just 'trolling' (as the kids say), should someone who has labeled themselves a 'mental health advocate' be acting in a manner that has people questioning his psyche? After all, ''mental health'' is a serious issue, isn't it?
Or is it when it's just convenient?
Regardless, Garcia pledged on Wednesday that from here on out that he will be focused on the fight.
BANZAI
The official announcement was made on Tuesday by Top Rank that the return of undisputed 122-pound champion, Naoya Inoue, will take place on May 6 (a Monday) versus Luis Nery at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
This will be the venue's first boxing event since James 'Buster' Douglas pulled off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history by stopping Mike Tyson in 10 rounds in February of 1990.
The expectation is that Inoue-Nery will sell-out.
“Naoya Inoue is the world’s best fighter, a young man who amazes me every time he steps in the ring," said Bob Arum. "Luis Nery is a tough challenger, but I fully expect Inoue to get the job done in front of more than 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome,”
3KR
This week on 'the 3 Knockdown Rule', Jim Lampley joined Mario Lopez and I, as we discussed the aforementioned Joshua-Ngannou event, and other topics related to boxing.
THE 3 KNOCKDOWN RULE EPISODE 36 | FORD TOUGH | JIM LAMPLEY INTERVIEW | RYAN GARCIA ERRATIC BEHAVIOR
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FINAL FLURRIES
Also on the 'Knockout Chaos' card is Zhilei Zhang-Joe Parker, Israil Madrimov-Magomed Kurbanov (for the vacant WBA 154-pound title), and Rey Vargas defending his WBC featherweight title against Nick Ball...The telecast for this card begins at 10 am, PT/1 pm, ET.....Takuma Inoue makes a quick return on his brothers card in May, he will face Sho Ishida in defense of his WBA bantamweight crown.... Also Jason Moloney defends his WBO bantamweight belt on this bill....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
