Ngannou's X-Factor: Was He That Good or Was Fury That Bad?
Ngannou is still all the things we said going in to the last one.
A physical phenomenon. Dangerously powerful to the extent that he can render a man, pretty much any man, semi-conscious with a single punch.
He won a handful of rounds against a reigning heavyweight champion and dropped that champion with what amounted to a glancing blow to the side of the head.
But upon further review, no one suggests it was anything resembling the "real" Fury.
So now that the world knows Ngannou is a commodity to be properly prepared for, what'll happen if a world-class operator like Joshua arrives in prime fighting condition?
That'll be a significant hook for viewers come March.
Joshua's X-Factor: Will the Real 'AJ' Please Stand Up?
As we said earlier, the Joshua of five or six years ago—specifically, the Joshua who handled Klitschko and Povetkin—would have been a smart money pick to blow Ngannou away.
He was big and strong and aggressive and confident and appeared for a while as if he'd be the British export who'd dominate the heavyweight division into the 2020s.
Until he wasn't.
The scars from the Ruiz loss still haven't healed and the Joshua who looks to survive fights rather than seizing them isn't nearly the phenomenon he'd been.
That might not keep him from jabbing and grabbing his way to a sleepy win in the Saudi desert, but it makes him appear more fragile and fuels the perception that Ngannou can dent the psyche.
One way or the other, it sets up as a legit career definer for him.
