Simon Jordan is the latest pundit to describe Anthony Joshua’s upcoming clash with Francis Ngannou a cash grab.
Joshua is set to face ex-UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8, with the showdown set to be formally announced at a press conference in London on Monday.
Ngannou will compete in just his second professional boxing match, after suffering a contentious split decision loss to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a non-title bout in October, although his performance rewarded him with a top 10 ranking with the WBC.
Jordan has joined former super middleweight champion, Carl Froch in the belief that the clash is purely for financial purposes and has slammed the WBC for ranking the ‘The Predator’ so highly.
“Ngannou has ridiculously been put inside the top 10 of the WBC,” Jordan said on talkSPORT.
“Which is almost preposterous.
“This is a money fight that the Saudis want to put on.
“They are the guys with the money right now. They’re the guys that are creating all the solutions to the problems we’ve had.
“Do I think this fight has any more credibility than [Ngannou vs] Tyson Fury? Marginally.
“But, do I expect Anthony Joshua to deal with Francis Ngannou more effectively than Tyson Fury did? Absolutely.”
Ngannou shocked the world when he dropped Fury in the third round and was believed to have done enough to win the fight, according to many observers.
‘AJ’ had signed to fight Deontay Wilder, but those plans were scuppered after ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was comfortably outpointed by Joseph Parker in December on the same card as Joshua, who forced Otto Wallin to retire after five rounds.
The 37-year-old Cameroonian will fill the void left by Wilder and according to Forbes, is predicted to earn over $20m from the bout, which will reportedly be a 10-round contest.
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