I sparred Francis Ngannou years before Tyson Fury fight… I remember staying out of the way of his dangerous power

WHEN Francis Ngannou knocked Tyson Fury down and took him to a split-decision the boxing world watched in shock – but not Joe Joyce.

That is because before Joyce beat Daniel Dubois in 2020, he sparred then-UFC contender Ngannou in Las Vegas.

Francis Ngannou dropped Tyson Fury on his boxing debutCredit: Getty

Ngannou sparred Joe Joyce in Las Vegas in 2020

What Joyce did not know is that three years later, Ngannou would put his MMA career on hold to make a sensational switch to boxing.

And on his debut bout, he dropped Fury in round three only to lose a controversial decision.

Joyce insisted Ngannou proved he could compete at the highest level of boxing, something he found out first hand all those years ago.

He told SunSport: “I thought he boxed a great fight there, even knocked him down.

“I thought it was very close. It just shows he can mix it at the top level.

“And from sparring him, I just remember staying out of the way of those power shots, the ones coming to the body and head.

“But I was a little bit more cute with my boxing, because I only train for boxing whereas MMA guys have to train in three disciplines.

“He started with boxing in the first place. It just shows you anything is possible.”

Ngannou won the UFC title two years after sparring Joyce but in 2023 he walked out on them to pursue boxing.

And Joyce admitted: “I didn’t know he was going to go into boxing after that but it was a great opportunity for him to get that fight against Fury and he did really well in it.”

Ngannou, 37, now faces Anthony Joshua, 34, on March 8 in Saudi Arabia in just his second boxing bout.

Meanwhile Joyce, 38, is coming off his second consecutive defeat to China’s Zhilei Zhang, 40.

The 2016 Olympic silver medallist now returns on March 16 against Kash Ali, 32, in Birmingham after refusing to retireme.

Joyce is back with the freedom of not having to protect his unbeaten record as he eyes bigger bouts in the future.

He said: “Right now, there’s so many different characters at the top of the heavyweight division where you’d like to see the match-ups.

“You wanna see me fight everyone really, everyone should fight everyone and especially now I’ve taken a loss, I don’t need to look after that coveted 0 and be scared to take fights.

“It means I can get in the mix with everyone, it doesn’t really matter.”

Joyce is back after two defeats to Zhilei ZhangCredit: Richard Pelham / The Sun