FRANCIS NGANNOU has seemingly mocked Anthony Joshua’s recent darkness retreat in his chilling prediction for their Saudi showdown.
AJ stunned boxing fans last October by revealing he went on a retreat so he could be alone with his thoughts in complete darkness.
The former two-time unified heavyweight champion forked out £2,000 for a four-day stay at the Sky Cave Dark Retreat in Southern Oregon.
That retreat came weeks before his desruction of Otto Wallin, which paved the way for an unlikely clash with former UFC champ Ngannou.
And Ngannou appeared to make reference to it in a chilling warning ahead of their Riyadh rumble in March.
The Predator said: “If I catch him, then he’s going to sleep.
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“Remember, this is the heavyweight division and everyone is quite strong. You should keep your chin away.
“Don’t go there and sleep [on your opponent] and say: ‘Oh, he’s not the hardest puncher.’
“If you put your chin in the right position and get hit, even by the lightest fighters, then you might wake up in the white room.”
The MMA man-mountain added: “So, you better keep your chin away and fight smart.
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“It is not chin-testing, it is a combat sport.
“I’m the hardest puncher, but I was in a 10-round fight and couldn’t knock out Tyson Fury, I couldn’t connect. [But] you can knock someone out if you can touch them.”
Joshua, 34, knows full well the power Ngannou possesses in both hands after watching him shock the world and drop Fury last October.
And he’s refusing to underestimate the size of the task on his hands in what many believe is a “lose-lose fight”.
He said: “If Tyson underestimated Ngannou, I sure won’t. Francis has lost the element of surprise with me.
“We knew Francis had a reputation as the biggest puncher in the world but the surprise was how well he boxed.
“He was exceptional on the inside and made life very complicated for Tyson.
“So much so that I do belong to the opinion that he beat Fury.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
