10 January 2024 , 11:04
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Anthony Joshua lost focus after Deontay Wilder scuppered plans of their $100million two-fight deal by losing to Joseph Parke.
Former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua was expected to fight Wilder after his win against Otto Wallin last month, but the American suffered a shocking defeat to Parker at the same event. Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou has now replaced Wilder in the heavyweight equation as he fights Joshua on March 8 in Saudi Arabia.
'AJ' enjoyed a well-deserved holiday after his win against Wallin but had to cut it short and fly back to the UK after his fight announcement with Ngannou. Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, has admitted the Brit switched off for a brief period when his fight with Wilder fell apart.
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"AJ didn’t need a lot of convincing for the Ngannou fight, he is on a roll at the moment," Hearn said on The MMA Hour. "He feels good after the Wallin fight. I think after Wilder lost, he kind of switched off for a week or 10 days. He had to cut his holiday short a few days ago to fly back and start camp."
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"He was going to do that anyway for Wilder, but I think when Wilder lost he maybe just switched off a little bit so he needed to switch back on. In Ngannou’s mind, this is the toughest fight of his career. Francis is a very dangerous man and they will be training with every ounce of their soul to be victorious."
Joshua wants to beat Ngannou to set up a fight against the winner of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight world titles. 'AJ' has changed his tune on facing Ngannou having previously dismissed the "gimmicky" fight whilst discussing Ngannou's crossover bout with Fury.
"It’s not a great look losing to Francis Ngannou and he’s going to do everything he can to avoid that. It’s never anything we anticipated because we presumed we were fighting Wilder in March. The only time I talked about Ngannou was after the Fury fight, but we didn’t get anywhere," Hearn added.