Anthony Joshua’s former trainer Robert Garcia believes the Brit would deal with Francis Ngannou easily if the pair meet inside the boxing ring in 2024.
Garcia worked with Joshua for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in August 2022, but was unable to help him reclaim his world titles as the Ukrainian heavyweight earned a narrow points win.
Joshua and Garcia parted ways after that solitary fight and AJ bounced back with three straight wins in 2023. He delivered a particularly impressive performance in his latest outing last month, stopping Otto Wallin after five rounds, and attention has now turned to his next opponent.
Ngannou has been mentioned as a possible option after he pushed Tyson Fury all the way in their huge crossover bout in October, knocking the WBC champion down in the third round before losing on points.
But despite Ngannou’s admirable showing against Fury, Garcia has no interest in seeing the former UFC heavyweight champion face Joshua as he views it as a complete mismatch. He also hit out at Fury for ’embarrassing’ boxing with his performance against Ngannou.
Anthony Joshua’s former trainer Robert Garcia (second right) believes the Brit would easily beat Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou knocked down Tyson Fury in their fight in October, but Garcia still believes a fight with Joshua would be a mismatch
‘It’s an easy fight for Joshua. Those fights shouldn’t even be sanctioned,’ Garcia told ESNEWS.
‘Ngannou, fighting the heavyweight champion of the world, Fury, it shouldn’t have been sanctioned. It’s a disrespect to boxing not to train one single day for that fight. It was embarrassing.’
Joshua’s next fight is yet to be announced as he weighs up his next options, but Fury is slated to take on Usyk with all four heavyweight belts on the line in Saudi Arabia next month.
The February 17 clash will determine the undisputed heavyweight champion, but Garcia believes Fury, Usyk and Joshua do not deserve to be compared to the greats of the past.
‘In heavyweight boxing [of this era], none of these guys would hang with Mike Tyson, [Evander] Holyfield, [Larry] Holmes. That was different. Lennox Lewis would be doing really good now. He would beat most everybody,’ he said.
‘Joshua is one of the good ones, but you can’t compare them to the 80s and 90s.’