NOTHING NNOU

 AJ won’t take him lightly but how much has rookie learned?

- MARTIN DOMIN 

FRANCIS NGANNOU has been here before.

He has been the mixed martial artist chancing his arm at boxing.

He has been the plucky underdog whose principles saw him quit the UFC for a multi-million-pound payday.

But he no longer has the element of surprise when he takes on Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia on Friday night.

Few in boxing gave him more than a puncher’s chance against Tyson Fury in October.

Even those in MMA circles saw it as a and opinions shifted. Few believe Fury took Ngannou’s threat completely seriously – his f labby physique from that near-disastrous night is gone and replaced by a slimmed-down version.

Fury saw it as a moneymaking shift while he waited to face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed crown.