Eddie Hearn claims to have detected fear in Francis Ngannou ahead of the 37-year-old's blockbuster clash with Anthony Joshua tonight.
Ngannou is currently preparing for just the second professional fight of his career, with the Cameroonian eager to enhance his reputation in the sport.
The former MMA man impressed during his bout with Tyson Fury back in October, knocking his opponent to the canvas before ultimately losing via split decision.
He will go up against a Joshua on the rise again, however, with the Briton winning three fights last year.
Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua will fight in Saudi Arabia tonight
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The 34-year-old was written off as a faded force following his two defeats to Oleksandr Usyk.
Yet Joshua was at his best as he overcame the likes of Jermaine Franklin Jr, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin last year.
And Hearn claims to have spotted fear in Ngannou, insisting the ex-UFC fighter is 'out of his comfort zone'.
“I’ll be honest with you. I saw a nervous Francis Ngannou," he said after the pair weighed in for their clash.
"I would be petrified if I was Ngannou."
Hearn also insists that Joshua is the tougher fighter, insisting AJ is capable of inflicting far more damage because he 'peppers' his opponents.
"We can say that Francis Ngannou is strong and punches hard. He does all those things," he said.
“Ask yourself this question. Who would you rather fight?
"Let’s say you have to get in there on Friday night. Who would you rather fight?
“You have to choose Ngannou because you know you’re going to get peppered by AJ and smashed to pieces.
"With Ngannou, at least you have a guy who hasn’t done it that often. So, I feel like Ngannou knows he’s in for [it]."
And Hearn also admits Joshua should be 'schooling' Ngannou because of his experience.
“Being nervous up there doesn’t really mean anything as to what’s going to happen on Friday," he continued.
“They’re still going to be all the things he can be, which is strong, dangerous, tough and resilient.
"But we [Joshua] should be schooling this guy.”
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Eddie Hearn has detected fear in Francis Ngannou ahead of his fight with Anthony Joshua tonight
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Joshua, meanwhile, has fired a warning to Ngannou - insisting he's now operating at the peak of his powers again having been in a 'bad place'.
"I was in a bad place - not a bad place, a bad moment," he said.
"I had put so much into becoming undisputed. I was working towards that and I just fell short.
"The feeling was not good and I had to pick myself back up again.
"I changed trainer after that and had a mix-and-match of everything going on. It took me about a year-and-a-bit to smooth things out and now we are just getting back to basics again.
Francis Ngannou insists he's the underdog ahead of his blockbuster fight with Anthony Joshua
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"I felt back to normal against Wallin; I had 10 days off and then got back into fight mode."
Ngannou is, however, confident he's learned enough from his fight with Fury to cause Joshua problems.
"I have learnt a little bit from the last fight, the last camp, and leading up to this one, so I get a little bit of experience, but the mindset is still the same," he said.
"This is just my second boxing match, even though I am taking on the two best guys in the world in boxing.
"I am the underdog, I am going out there to prove that you can be an underdog and stand your ground."
