Joe Joyce says he'd love to fight Francis Ngannou

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Joe Joyce says he'd love to fight Francis Ngannou in a boxing ring

By Tom Ward

Published Nov 21, 2022

Joe Joyce says he'd love to fight Francis Ngannou, but it would have to take place in a boxing ring.

Joe Joyce has never been one to shy away from a challenge.

So the moment Francis Ngannou's name was mentioned, his eyes immediately lit up.

The pair previously shared sparring rounds with each other at the UFC's Performance Institute in Las Vegas in the build-up to his fight with Daniel Dubois in 2020.

And now Joyce has gone one step further, insisting he would love to throw down with Ngannou inside the boxing ring.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT.com, he said: "I sparred Ngannou before the Dubois fight, he's a big, powerful unit.

"It was a good experience to spar him. He's a freak of nature. He's got phenomenal power.

"Most of the time I was trying to get away from those power shots to avoid getting my head taken off.

Joe Joyce is eyeing a showdown with Francis Ngannou

"I'd love to fight him though but let's keep it simple with boxing. The UFC is too much, man. Credit to all those guys because they have to train so hard in all these different areas like they have to be so well-rounded in the kicking, the striking, the grappling and the submissions and all that so it's a lot you have to train for."

Joyce, 35, beat Christian Hammer and Joseph Parker in back-to-back fights in a bumper year which has seen him catapult himself into the title picture after almost a year since his previous outing when he stopped Carlos Takam in six rounds at Wembley Arena.

He added: "I've known Duncan French for ages, he was a part of the Team GB setup behind the scenes, but now he's out there so there's a link there.

"I think I was one of the first boxers to start training there and now a lot more have come to check out the facilities over the years.

"But currently yeah there's Deontay Wilder at the gym, there's Michael Hunter, Jonathan Rice, Charles Martin, there's loads of heavyweights in the gym using the facilities at the moment.

"It's quite good because you're always rubbing shoulders with each other.

"I was sparring with Sergei Spivac, I sparred with him, and then obviously went on to put on a really dominant performance against Joseph Parker so it's been good to mix things up a bit."

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