Heavyweight Matty Harris returns on March 1 in Telford and begins rebuilding his career following his first defeat last July in Edinburgh.
Harris (5-1, 4KOs) suffered a surprise upset against Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko, losing via a fifth-round loss despite dropping his Ukrainian opponent in the second round.
Harris has made changes to his set-up, hiring Peter Fury to lead his return and relocating to the North West to train under Fury, who has coached the likes of Tyson Fury, Hughie Fury, Eddie Chambers and Savannah Marshall.
Despite Harris’s defeat in July, he was still invited into Francis Ngannou’s training camp as the former UFC heavyweight champion prepared to face Tyson Fury ahead of his boxing debut back in October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou impressed many observers in the fight, dropping WBC world heavyweight champion Fury in the third round and losing a close split decision.
Harris, however, was not impressed with Ngannou during his time in camp helping the MMA kingpin prepare to face Fury.
“I was sparring Ngannou in September and October ahead of the Fury fight, and he wasn’t good,” Harris said, speaking ahead of his fight against 8-10 Belgian-based Moroccan Amine Boucetta. “He [Ngannou] boxed exactly the same [vs Fury] when he sparred me. You have to stand off at range with him. I will not give too much away, but he wasn’t that great.
“[Promoter] Nisse [Sauerland] came and watched, and he will be able to back me up on what I have said. He has got no chance against Joshua, and I think Joshua will go straight through him.
“I don’t think Fury prepared properly, as well as Ngannou being an unknown quantity, but I think Joshua will go straight through him, no problem.”
Source: https://www.boxingscene.com
