Boxing

Francis Ngannou Drops Bold Jake Paul-Anthony Joshua Fight Prediction

Former UFC champion Francis Ngannou offered an interesting take on the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight.
Grant Young|
Jake Paul
Jake Paul | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

When news broke that Jake Paul was fighting Anthony Joshua on December 19 in Miami, Florida, the initial reaction was one of concern about Jake Paul's safety.

While there's a case to be made that Anthony Joshua's boxing prime is behind him, there's no question that he can still pack a massive punch. Fight fans need to look no further than the absolutely vicious second-round knockout victory he had over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou when the two met in the boxing ring on March 8, 2024.

Speaking of Ngannou, he was one of the few fighters that Jake Paul's team contacted in the wake of his scheduled fight against Gervonta "Tank" Davis getting cancelled in November. But Ngannou didn't want to accept the fight, which led to Paul's team pivoting to a bout against Joshua.

Francis Ngannou Speaks on Declining Jake Paul Fight Invite, Drops Jake vs. Joshua Prediction

Ngannou was the guest on a December 10 episode of The Ariel Helwani Show and was asked about the reported offer to fight Paul.

“Nakisa [Bidarian] reached out and let me know that Gervonta Davis is having some situation, so he’s not going to be in the fight anymore. They were looking for a replacement, and then they thought about me. I'm like, me? How?... I was very confused. How can you guys go from Gervonta Davis to me? It was quite confusing, I didn’t even believe that," Ngannou said, per an X post from Helwani.

Ngannou certain Tyson's ability to overcome Paul despite age difference
Francis Ngannou expresses his belief that Mike Tyson still has the ability to beat Jake Paul in their forthcoming encounter

When Helwani later asked Ngannou whether Paul's team actually offered him money to fight Paul, Ngannou said, "Let's say he was ready to pay. I didn't talk money. I personally didn’t talk money. But he was ready to pay, even if the money was right... They had the intention to pay me a good amount of money."

A bit later on, Helwani asked Ngannou how he thought the fight between Paul and Joshua was going to play out, and Ngannou said, "I think AJ wins. I mean, do you think otherwise?"

Helwani then said many people believe Joshua will knock Paul out in the first round, to which Ngannou said, "Yeah. I would say so. But why exactly is Jake Paul [taking this] fight? That's what I'm excited to see. What is his strategy?"

Ngannou seems to think Paul has some ace up his sleeve or some unknown motive for picking Joshua, which is why he decided to take on this massive challenge. Although that didn't keep him from predicting that Joshua would put Paul's lights out.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young is a Staff Writer for On SI’s Boxing, New York Mets, Indiana Fever, and Women’s Fastbreak sites. Before joining SI in 2024, he wrote for various boxing and sports verticals such as FanBuzz and NY Fights. Young has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s degree in creative writing with an emphasis on sports nonfiction from the University of San Francisco, where he played five seasons of Division 1 baseball. He fought Muay Thai professionally in Thailand in 2023, loves a good essay, and is driven crazy trying to handle a pitpull puppy named Aura. Young lives in San Diego and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.