There's good money to be made off the boxing fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou despite the perceived mismatch between the two. In this article, we’ll give you two AJ vs. Ngannou bets you have to make right away!
- What: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou
- Where: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- When: Friday, March 8
Joshua vs. Ngannou Preview
Here again, we have another boxer vs. MMA fighter crossover — inside a boxing ring. However, this might be the first one where the ending isn’t a complete foregone conclusion. That’s because ex-UFC champion, Ngannou, proved he’s no slouch inside the ring. Let's begin our preview of Joshua vs. Ngannou with a quick look at the moneyline odds:
No surprise here, AJ is a comfortable favorite to win. But being only -400 despite being a generationally good heavyweight against a guy in his second-ever bout is shorter odds than you’d expect. That’s because Ngannou came strikingly close to beating another generational heavyweight, Tyson Fury (most believe Fury is superior to AJ). The two fought in October and Fury escaped with a split decision victory.
The highlight of the fight, which also took place in Saudi Arabia, was when Ngannou floored Fury, the current champion of the world. Fury went down in the third round and it really highlighted what Ngannou has been saying al along: his fists are among the most dangerous in all of combat sports, boxing or MMA. Those fists made Ngannou’s performance miles better than UFC fighters that’ve tried this in the past — Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and Tyron Woodley, among others.
Was Ngannou’s performance a fluke? Or did Fury just overlook him? We think we’ll have answers on this show, which takes place Friday — not the usual Saturday so get those bets in early. This is a 10-round fight, rather than 12, which matters for one of our bets to come later on.
Obviously, AJ has just about every advantage over Ngannou in this one. Of course, he has the boxing experience, a wealth of it actually compared to Ngannou. But AJ is also taller, lengthier, and younger by three years. Ngannou’s only real advantage? Those powerful mitts we mentioned before and a stalkier build. That’s about it if we’re being completely honest.
Ngannou vs. Joshua Betting Picks
Personally, we’ll be skipping any picks on the Ngannou vs. Joshua moneyline. We see way, way better betting opportunities elsewhere, mainly in the prop market. Here are two Joshua-Ngannou bets more worth your money:
Over/Under 6.5 Rounds
This is why we said the 10-round rule mattered cause this fight’s over/under is firmly put at 6.5 rounds:
For starters, we think Joshua is winning this fight. We think he’ll take this matchup a little more seriously than Fury did. But two, we think he’ll take it seriously because he fully respects Ngannou’s power. The absolute last thing that AJ wants out of this bout is to end up on the mat like Fury did.
Joshua’s career is at a bit of a crossroads. He’s failed to beat Oleksandr Usyk on two different occasions. Fury doesn’t seem interested in fighting AJ, and the Deontay Wilder dream match is also shot after Wilder's own loss. This leaves AJ in limbo — sort of a title contender, but not really. A bad outing vs. Ngannou even if he wins, would hurt Joshua’s career even more.
This is why we expect Joshua to fight somewhat conservatively in this one. He knows Ngannou isn’t skilled enough to outpoint him for 10 rounds, but he also knows Ngannou just needs one big punch to possibly score the knockout. And it’s not like Joshua hasn’t been put on the canvas before.
So we’re firmly on the over bet here. We’re quite confident this fight will go the distance and Joshua will escape with a unanimous decision win.
Ngannou To Be Knocked Down Prop
Here’s a fun and surprising bet. Right now, the best boxing sites are strongly favoring that Ngannou gets knocked down at least once. Check these odds out:
We’ll be upfront and say we’re hammering a bet on the no — and we mean hammering. Seriously, we’re so confident that Ngannou doesn’t get knocked down that we’re sizing up to take advantage of those plus-money odds on the no outcome.
We’ve already said what we’ve said: AJ is going to play this fight safe rather than “play hero” and try to knock Ngannou down. Even if we’re wrong and AJ comes out aggressive, Ngannou has a strong chin. This is not an easy man to get off his feet even if you’re trying. All of this is why we’re so confident about this betting pick.
How To Bet On AJ vs. Ngannou?
There are dozens of more AJ vs. Ngannou bets available. For a complete list of ‘em, visit one of the bookmakers listed below. These are all our top-rated sites based on our latest sportsbook reviews. Not only that, but each is offering big-money sportsbook bonuses. These deals pay hundreds to thousands of dollars in free play — money you can use to bet on Joshua vs. Ngannou for free!
