"That's a Will Smith punch" - When Francis Ngannou was utterly disregarded by the boxing community only to be defended by Joe Rogan
Francis Ngannou shook the world this past weekend with his performance against Tyson Fury.
Making his debut against arguably one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, Ngannou put up an impressive performance and came close to winning the fight. However, he ended up losing a close split decision loss at the end of the 10-round fight against 'The Gypsy King'.
Going into the fight, Francis Ngannou's striking abilities were heavily disregarded by the boxing community. Many believed that Ngannou would be lucky to get to the final bell. However, he proved everyone wrong and even dropped Fury in the third round.
Highlighting the disregard that the boxing community had for the former UFC heavyweight champion, the YouTube channel MMA Bouts posted a compilation of people undermining Ngannou during their appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast. Interestingly, it was Rogan who stood up for 'The Predator' repeatedly.
Undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford claimed that Francis Ngannou had no chance against Tyson Fury during his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. He said:
"He has no chance!"
Rogan seemed to not agree with the sentiment.
In another episode of JRE, Joe Rogan and combat sports journalist Radio Rahim were discussing Ngannou's knockout power. During the conversation, Rogan brought up the former UFC heavyweight champion's knockout of Alistair Overeem, saying:
"Ngannou does have the nuclear option though, he really does. He does have nuclear one-punch knockout power. One of his knockout of Alistair Overeem was one of the most terrifying knockouts I've ever seen in my life."
Upon seeing the video of the knockout, Radio Rahim continued to undermine Ngannou for his technique and said:
"That's a Will Smith punch man!"
Despite Radio Rahim not acknowledging Francis Ngannou's power, Joe Rogan continued to defend 'The Predator'. He claimed that even though the chances of Ngannou landing a power shot might be slim, it was still possible, and stated how the former UFC heavyweight champion can be dangerous during clinching.
Watch the full video including all the comments below:
Francis Ngannou claims boxing has a "structured business"
After suffering a rather close split decision loss at the hands of Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou sat down for an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA. During the interview, 'The Predator' opined that he never expected to win a decision against Fury.
Further, Ngannou claimed that he had done everything he could and will look to do even better the next time he steps into the ring and said:
"I know there's a structured business out there. I wasn't expecting to win a decision just like that. It is what it is, I did my job, and I know that I did everything I could've done. I did my best and next time I should do better to convince people."
Catch his comments in the clip below: