Just the headline alone is enough to give Eddie Hearn heart palpitations. The Matchroom boss has certainly had his share of ups and downs while promoting two-time unified heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, but a setback against Francis Ngannou doesn’t bear thinking about.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) is on a three-fight winning streak and approaching another world title shot. That might come against the winner of the undisputed showdown between Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk or IBF mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic. However, if AJ wants to remain on that trajectory, the hard-hitting Brit must make Ngannou a memory.
Ngannou (0-1) was considered something of a novelty when he faced WBC heavyweight champion Fury in a non-title bout last October. Everyone tuned in to watch the former UFC champ get tuned up and then the bell rang. Fury was dropped by a counter left hook in a dramatic third round before scraping home via razor-thin split decision.
Will Joshua justify the overwhelming odds in his favor, or will Ngannou fool the boxing world for a second time?
WATCH: Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou, exclusively live on DAZN
Would AJ retire if he loses to Ngannou?
You can justify Joshua’s 2019 stoppage defeat to Andy Ruiz as a flash in the pan, especially since the former Olympic champ turned Ruiz upside down in a direct rematch and outpointed him with room to spare.
AJ’s two subsequent defeats to Usyk are nothing to be ashamed of, as the Ukrainian is a nailed-on Hall of Famer with the potential to be an all-time great. Also, and people forget this, Joshua boxed brilliantly in the rematch before losing a close decision.
However, if Joshua were to lose to Ngannou, that would be catastrophic. Despite the Cameroon-born colossus giving Fury a torrid time, he is still a boxing novice by comparison to the 2012 Olympic gold medalist. And regardless of what you might hear to the contrary, most are of the opinion that Fury was not expecting much resistance from Ngannou.
If Joshua retired after a loss to Ngannou, then that would not come as a major surprise. However, the former champ told DAZN’s Ade Oladipo during the Face Off episode that he would fight on regardless of the result.
Is there a rematch clause for AJ vs. Ngannou?
Last month, Eddie Hearn told SecondsOut that there is no rematch clause in the contract.
However, if the worst were to happen, and Joshua wanted the return assignment, then Matchroom would work very hard to run it back.
MORE: All you need to know about Joshua vs. Ngannou
Is Tyson Fury fight dead if AJ loses to Ngannou?
Boxing is a crazy sport.
In 1993, Roy Jones Jr. outpointed Bernard Hopkins to win the vacant IBF middleweight championship. The pair teased a rematch for several years and eventually it looked like a lost cause.
In 2010, when both fighters were in their forties and running out of options, the old rivals faced off for a second time. If that’s not shocking enough, the bout was televised on pay-per-view in the U.S., so fans had to pay for it. Hopkins won a points decision following a terrible fight.
Why is this relevant? Because if two old guys can renew ties after 16 years, then Fury and Joshua getting together between 2024 and 2034 would hardly qualify as a shocker. That fight will always sell, no matter how many years go by or how many losses they each incur.
To apply the old boxing adage, Fury vs. Joshua will always make money and therefore always make sense.
