One trick ponies don’t go far. But what if that one trick blows the steam out of you and leaves you gasping for oxygen? That’s pretty much the case with Francis Ngannou. Tyson Fury had his taste, and now Anthony Joshua is next. Surely, the sweet science is a slowly and steadily brewed potion to conquer it all. But what if you were to judge on one ingredient—punching power? Does ‘AJ’ stand a chance then?

The heavyweights hit hard, but ‘The Predator’ hits harder. Ngannou’s power has grabbed eyeballs since he blew up on the combat sports scene, and ‘The Gypsy King’ smelled the canvas because of it. So where does he rank when compared with the likes of Fury, Deontay Wilder, and especially his next opponent, Joshua?

Francis Ngannou: Knocking off heads and records

If you have followed MMA, you know how the Cameroonian-French fighter conducts his business inside the ring. Besides an impressive record of 17-3 with 12 KOs, his one-punch-dropping dead Alistair Overeem still has the internet buzzing. Impressively, his punch had already been measured as the world’s hardest punch, when he scored 129,161 units on a PowerKube.

The 37-year-old fighter’s punch roughly matches a family wagon’s horsepower, if numbers are decoded for a layman. While not every heavy-hitting boxer has hit the PowerKube, it does put Ngannou in a league of his own. UFC lynchpin Dana White has also heaped praise on his former champion when he equated Ngannou’s staple killing blow to 96 horsepower, which is equal to getting hit by a full-throttled Ford Escort and more powerful than a 12-pound sledgehammer swung full force from overhead.

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He recently exhibited another effortless display of his dazzling power when he hit a maximum score of 999 on a Gym Shark punch machine in London. Fun part? He didn’t throw his weight behind the punch. It was merely a jab without a backswing. Yet it exploded like a bomb when he landed the punch. While the former UFC champion has already made his power known to the world, Joshua is also not that far behind.

Anthony Joshua: a better boxer but a more scary puncher?

It was 2017, and a formally dressed Joshua appeared on the Graham Norton Show, took off his jacket, and tested his strength. Soon, he hits a score of 848 on the arcade machine. Some years down the line, the DAZN office put him in a similar situation to showcase their new signee.

This time it was a huge left hook, which stopped the meter at 965. Mind you, that was his weaker left hand. He has won all but three fights without a KO. But what about the other heavyweights? Deontay Wilder, the heavyweight division’s hardest hitter for years, crashed the machine after posting 930. Meanwhile, asserting his dominance, Fury’s left hook edged him closer to Ngannou and scored 993.

How Hard Does Francis Ngannou Punch? All You Need To Know About His World Record Holding Punch Which Hits Harder Than Ford Escort At Full Speed

Markedly, neither of the machines was the same, and therefore, these scores on the screen can’t be used to gauge their punching power. However, the former professionals and combat stars have also watched Joshua and Ngannou and shared their personal experiences of facing the brunt of thunderous punches.

The pundits and pros have their say

Joe Joyce, a former WBO interim heavyweight champion, once recalled his sparring session with Ngannou to Sky Sports. Despite being used to heavily loaded punches, he was terrified of the power the MMA fighter packed. “[Francis Ngannou’s] power shots were whistling past my abs and my chin in the process… If he lands one of those big shots like he hit Fury with then I don’t think Joshua’s going to get up from that,” he said.

Ngannou has a punch that drops you unconscious on the mat, whereas Joshua has a weak chin. Former UFC star Dan Hardy believes that if the latter hits the canvas like Fury, he is unsure whether the Brit will be back on his feet. Meanwhile, Derek Chisora has faith in his compatriot to knock out Ngannou in a hard fight. It remains to be seen whether Joshua would stand stationary like he did in his recent fight or would fight on the back foot, throwing his jabs to maintain a distance from Ngannou’s power shots.

What do you make of the comparison between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua? Do you believe the MMA fighter’s punches will cause trouble for AJ? Let us know in the comments below.

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