Frank Warren believes Francis Ngannou can cause an upset by defeating Anthony Joshua ahead of their heavyweight showdown in Saudi Arabia on March 8.

Briton Joshua returns to action following December’s impressive stoppage over Sweden’s Otto Wallin as he continues his bid on becoming a three-time world champion against mixed martial arts star Ngannou in a 10-round bout.

Queensbury promoter Warren, whose prize fighter Tyson Fury came back from an early knockdown to beat Ngannou in controversial fashion in October, believes Joshua should be wary of his opponent’s punch power.

Speaking to the PA news agency at the launch of Queensbury’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ boxing card, Warren said: “Joshua’s come into this after his last fight against Wallin. He’ll be a big favourite going in, but I know that if he gets caught on the whiskers then this fella (Ngannou) could cause a massive upset because he can whack.

“It’s going to be interesting to see how he takes the fight and to see if he fights on the outside or the inside. Ngannou’s game is getting on the inside, he’s a big man, he’s strong.

“I’m intrigued to see what Ngannou’s learnt from his last fight.”

Joshua showed signs of being back to his best with last month’s ruthless victory over Wallin, which marked his third victory of 2023 following wins against Jermaine Franklin and Robert Helenius.

But Warren believes Ngannou has the tools to exploit AJ’s “wealth” of weaknesses in Riyadh.

“If I’m fighting AJ, what am I looking to do? I’d look to exploit his weaknesses and there’s a wealth of that which we’ve seen,” Warren added. “We’ve seen his weaknesses in that first fight against Tubby the Tuba (defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019).

“Also the two fights to Oleksandr Usyk, we can see what they are. People have seen him wobble a few times in fights, that happens with him. I’m not saying there’s a confidence issue, but there wasn’t that where he was such an emphatic fighter.

“I think he’s changed. He’s changed his style a bit, which he should do. His new trainer (Ben Davison) has brought some momentum to him, but he’s going to have a fight on his hand.”

Nathan Heaney and Joe Joyce are among the fighters on the ‘Magnficent Seven’ card in Birmingham on March 16, and Warren is expecting a competitive night of action.

He said: “The last one we did I think was British promotion of the year. They were great fights, competitive fights and it’s a similar situation here. We have young and established fighters who are all in competitive fights.

“This is something we will now do on a regular basis. They will all be looking these guys to outdo each other because someone wants to come through as the eye catching fight.”

Joe Joyce admits it would be a crazy decision to retire now as he targets a return to winning ways in “thriving” heavyweight division against Kash Ali.

Frank Warren announced the first “Magnificent Seven” boxing card of 2024 on Thursday, including Joyce and Nathan Heaney, will take place in Birmingham on March 16.

Joyce will look to bounce back from two defeats to China’s Zhilei Zhang in 2023 and try to return to world title fight contention.

“It’s good to be back and get back into camp and to start the year with a bang,” Joyce said at a press conference at Birmingham’s Resorts World Arena.

“I’m still here. I’m not retiring and I have plenty of fights to be in. It’s an exciting time to be in. Why retire now? I’d be crazy to.

“I want to get back to winning ways again with a nice victory and then there are plenty of fights on the horizon. The heavyweight division is thriving at the moment especially with the opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

“Styles make fights and he’s a hard hitting durable southpaw (Zhang). I learnt from the first fight but I didn’t get the result (in the second). He got the beating of me and I’ll see what he’ll do next.”

Following his victory over Denzel Bentley in November, the undefeated Heaney will headline the event when he defends his British middleweight title against Brad Pauls.

The Stoke fighter said: “I’ve got the British title and the next title after that is the English title (which Pauls holds) so he is no easy pick at all.

“It was something I’ve always dreamt about (winning British title). That motivation is there for everyone. He’s better than people think, he has got a good jab and it sets up for a good fight.”

Birmingham’s Solomon Dacres features on the card, Eithan James fights Owen Cooper for the English welterweight title and Zach Parker faces Germany’s Tyron Zeuge.

Dennis McCann will also return to the ring after August’s technical draw with Ionut Baluta when he goes head-to-head with Liverpool’s Brad Strand while Erik Robles fights Liam Davies for the IBO world super bantamweight title.

The news comes soon after the announcement of Anthony Joshua’s next bout against MMA star Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8.

Queensbury promoter Warren said: “We have so many quality fights, great for those buying tickets.

“We have top talent with youngsters coming through. It’s a competitive fight for everyone on the card. We have revived the format, we will do this a few times this year.”