Former Olympian Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs) has warned Anthony Joshua that Francis Ngannou poses a legitimate threat to him, citing his own sparring experiences with the former UFC heavyweight champion. 

On Friday, March 8, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Ngannou (0-1) will make his second professional boxing appearance against former unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs). Ngannou, a former UFC fighter, surpassed initial expectations in his debut in October 2023, dropping Tyson Fury in the third round before being edged out in a narrow split decision after 10 rounds.

In the lead-up to Friday’s anticipated encounter, Ngannou has not been afraid to state his intentions, which, in summary, are to defeat Joshua within the scheduled 10-round distance.

Joyce, who had formerly based his preparations in Las Vegas, to train under Ismael Salas, had worked with Ngannou briefly as a sparring partner. Salas drafted Ngannou in for a highly anticipated domestic encounter with Daniel Dubois, which took place in November 2020. 

Joyce, a British heavyweight, told Metro.co.uk that despite Ngannou’s lack of boxing experience, Ngannou’s power allows him to mix with the best heavyweights in the world. 

“He is a very credible threat,” Joyce said. “He hits very hard and he can mix it with the best. I did that work with him at the UFC Institute in our first training camp for the Dubois fight.”

Joyce also warned Joshua to stay away from Ngannou’s power shots, labeling the Cameroonian’s power as “incredible.”

“I did four rounds with him,” Joyce said. “He hadn’t done as much boxing training at that stage as he probably did before the Fury fight. But even then, he was very decent.

“His power shots are incredible. You would want to stay out of the way of them.”

Joyce makes an awaited return to the ring later this month in Birmingham, United Kingdom, following back-to-back stoppage defeats against Zhilei Zhang in 2023.Joyce will meet Kash Ali in a 10-round bout, hoping to rebuild following career-changing defeats to Zhang.