Daniel Cormier has made an important distinction between how Jake Paul and Francis Ngannou fought Anthony Joshua.

Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP via Getty Images

Paul is a few weeks on from his second defeat in professional boxing and first time being stopped inside the distance.

Eyebrows were raised when it was announced that the YouTuber-turned-pugilist would be fighting former two-time unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and many predicted a violent end to the American’s winning run.

That came to fruition on December 19 in Miami, where Joshua finished Paul in round six of their showdown at the Kaseya Center.

‘El Gallo’ took a victory lap for making it so far into the fight and surviving a few rounds longer than Ngannou did against ‘AJ’.

Daniel Cormier rejects the suggestion Jake Paul ‘fought’ better than Francis Ngannou

While Paul was stopped in round six, Joshua viciously knocked out Ngannou in the second round of their March 2024 clash in Saudi Arabia.

Although some have used that on-paper fact to suggest Paul “did better” than the former UFC champion, Cormier explained why that is not the case during an interview with Josh Thomson on Weighing In.

“He ran a lot,” Cormier said about Paul’s approach against Joshua.

“Here’s the thing, everybody goes — even Eddie Hearn goes, ‘Well, he did better than Francis.’ I’m like, well, Francis didn’t move around much.

“Francis thought he could actually fight him because of what he did to Tyson Fury, right? He couldn’t,” he added.

“Anthony Joshua was like, ‘I’m not taking any chances with this guy, so he fought him and took him seriously.

“But Francis didn’t move? Jake did a good job of moving around for a long time.”

Anthony Joshua lands a punch against Francis Ngannou during their boxing match

Why Francis Ngannou turned down the Jake Paul fight before Anthony Joshua stepped in

Ngannou was among the names being floated when Paul’s fight with Gervonta Davis collapsed last November.

The former UFC heavyweight champ was approached by the American’s team about fighting ‘El Gallo’ but did not even ponder accepting the bout.

In fact, Ngannou suggested the offer to fight Paul was disrespectful.

“There’s no such thing happening,” Ngannou told TMZ about the idea of him stepping in to fight the ex-Disney star.

“Basically, how can they go from Gervonta Davis to Francis Ngannou? … The weight difference and everything, it makes no sense.

“I wasn’t expecting (the offer) at all. I’m like, no, bro. Come on. Don’t disrespect me like that,” he added.