Ngannou accuses Joshua of dirty tactics in Saudi

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has accused Anthony Joshua’s promotion team of employing unfair tactics during their recent bout in Saudi Arabia, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Speaking on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast, Ngannou detailed a series of incidents he believes were designed to give Joshua an edge in their fight.

The Cameroonian fighter, who made his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in 2023, claimed that British boxing promoters deliberately disrupted his preparation schedule.

“We get into fight week, and every time we’re going to do media, they’re going to pick me up, and then I get there and have to wait an hour and a half before media arrives,” Ngannou said.

He added that his striking coach, Dewey Cooper, became suspicious of these delays, suggesting it was a tactic to make fighters get tired quickly.

Ngannou also recounted issues on the day of the fight, describing how he arrived at the arena hours before the scheduled fight time, only to be informed of a significant delay.

“A producer comes into the locker room and says, ‘Oh, guy, we are running late on the broadcast. Now we’re going to go around 1:45.’ I’m like, okay, 1:45. It’s 10:45. Three hours. Okay,” he said.

While Ngannou was clear that he doesn’t blame Joshua personally for these incidents, he pointed fingers at the organising bodies.

“This is definitely not on him (Joshua), because he wasn’t the guy that was sending all those emails, organizing. So I’m not blaming him for anything. But the organisation did quite some stuff that wasn’t fair,” Ngannou stated.

The fighter specifically mentioned Queensbury Promotions and Matchroom Boxing as the sources of the scheduling emails and pickup times that he found disruptive.

Despite these allegations, Ngannou acknowledged Joshua’s skill, saying, “Not to say Anthony Joshua couldn’t beat me. I think if there’s somebody that you can lose against, he’s the guy; he’s one of the best doing it.”

Ngannou has now shifted his focus back to MMA, preparing for a fight against Renan Ferreira in the Professional Fighters League.