Francis Ngannou’s coach is confident that he can ‘shock the world again’ by knocking out Anthony Joshua.
The former UFC star faces Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday, having nearly pulled off an upset victory in his last fight against unbeaten world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury back in October.
Ngannou knocked the Gypsy King down to the canvas during the bout, which he lost via a controversial split decision outcome.
His coach Dewey Cooper is predicting a knockout win for Ngannou, and questioned whether Joshua can get back to his feet like the Gypsy King did.
Speaking on the MMA Hour podcast, Cooper said: ‘Tyson Fury may go down, but he gets up. He’s been dropped in numerous fights, even multiple times, but he gets up and he still fights. We can’t say the same for Joshua.’
Francis Ngannou’s coach Dewey Cooper believes ‘lightning will strike twice’ when his fighter squares off with Anthony Joshua on Friday – after his impressive display against Tyson Fury
Nagannou lost a controversial split-decision bout with Fury, despite sending the Gypsy King down to the canvas
Cooper believes Fury is ‘more dynamic’ as a fighter than Joshua, but insists AJ is the ‘more dangerous opponent’
He added: ‘I don’t think he’s (Joshua) necessarily chinny, but does he have the wherewithal, the intestinal fortitude to get up? He did it against [Wladimir] Klitschko, but that’s a 40-year-old Klitschko.
‘Can he do it against one of these tigers that’s hungry, that’s coming to hit you hard and really do some damage? We’ll see.
‘But I can tell you one thing: Francis is ready to go. He’s ready to shock the world again. Lightning will strike twice.’
Cooper was also asked to compare how much of a different challenge it has been to prepare Ngannou for Joshua compared to Fury.
Though he believes the Gypsy King has some advantages over his British compatriot, Cooper insists that Joshua is the ‘more dangerous opponent’.
He said: ‘Tyson Fury is way more dynamic. He’s multidimensional. He has many styles he fights, so he’s definitely trickier. But don’t confuse being tricky with being effective and being dangerous.
‘Anthony Joshua, for sure, is the more dangerous opponent, Tyson Fury is the more trickier opponent.
‘So we understand the danger of this fight and Francis is ready for it.
Despite his inexperience inside the boxing ring, Cooper believes Ngannou will knock Joshua out
Ngannou pictured during a media workout with Cooper ahead of Friday’s bout in Riyadh
‘I knew Tyson Fury could not hurt Francis with one punch. Tyson Fury is a multitude guy, he wears you down with pace, numbers, and some dirty boxing. He burns you out psychologically first and then he just wears on you and breaks you down.
‘Anthony Joshua actually has one-punch knockout power as well, so the danger element is more intensified against Anthony Joshua, and we understand that.
‘Francis will be sharp, he’ll be smart, and most importantly he’ll be dominant.’