Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou - Former world champion says he wouldn't have taken this fight

Johnny Nelson believes Anthony Joshua is taking a huge risk when he faces Francis Ngannou next month.  

The heavyweight pair will collide in Saudi Arabia, and Joshua will need to win if he’s to secure a big fight later in the year, possibly against Tyson Fury. 

The bout will be Ngannou’s second professional outing following his loss to Fury last October and he’ll be aiming to score his first win as a pro.  

Nelson, a former cruiserweight world champion, thinks Joshua has nothing to gain from beating the boxing novice. 

“I said the risk/reward doesn’t add up. If I was Eddie Hearn, if I was Joshua’s promoter, I wouldn’t have taken the fight because the risk/reward doesn’t weigh up,” said Nelson when speaking on TalkSport. 

“If you lose to him, where are you gonna go from there? What’s it gonna do to AJ’s head, thinking, ‘I just lost to this guy, what’s going on here?’”