Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has his second boxing match announced.
It was announced on Friday that Francis Ngannou will fight Anthony Joshua. The 10 round boxing match is set to take place on March 8th at the now popular Riyadh arena in Saudi Arabia. Ironically, or not, UFC 299 headlined by Sean O’Malley and Chito Vera is happening the very next day in Miami. This will mark the second boxing match “The Predator” takes on since leaving the UFC back in 2023. The first fight, famously, happened back in October of 2023 when he faced the WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in his first ever pro boxing fight. Also happening at the Riyadh arena, Fury would get the split decision win over the Cameroonian in what many people call a win for Ngannou. The now PFL heavyweight contender even dropped the six foot 9 in the third round.
Anthony Joshua has been looking for an opponent since his previous “rumored” opponent, Deontay Wilder, lost. Wilder faced Joseph Parker and looked flat footed as he lost a one sided unanimous decision. Following in the main event of that card, which was called ‘Day of Reckoning‘, Anthony Joshua was headlining. Joshua did what Joshua does. He stopped Otto Wallin in the 5th round. Since the end of the fight, with Wilder’s loss, rumors swirled that Ngannou could fight either man. At the end of the day, “The Predator” chose the victor is decided to fight Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua back to back.
Francis Ngannou Reaction to the News
Minutes after the news broke, Francis Ngannou took to X saying he has ever bigger plans and AJ is just the first step. Stating that 2024 will be a big year for the heavyweight.
“Making big moves in the new year” “2024 is going to be [fire]” Ngannou said on Twitter.
As a result, Ngannou is entering the contest with a 0-1 record. Meanwhile, AJ is on a three fight win streak with two of them coming by way of finish. He fought Jermaine Franklin JR to a decision and got back to back knockout wins. One devastating knockout over Robert Helenius and a recent stoppage over Otto Wallin. Joshua held titles in the heavyweight division, however, lost twice by decision to the now champion Oleksandr Usyk. Usyk is fighting Fury next to unify the belts on February 17th, also happening at the Riyadh arena. This fight could be lined up for Ngannou if get a first win in boxing.
Nonetheless, the matchup is still incredible and will make fans watch. Even if we lost the Joshua-Wilder fight, these two heavyweights promise a head on collision. Boxing heavyweights have always had legends from generation to generation with the likes of Ali, Louis, Tyson, and Holmes. It seems our generation is getting a few legends at a time with Ngannou joining the ranks.
Quotes taken from X.
What do you think of this news? Who do you think will win Francis Ngannou or Anthony Joshua? Let us know in the comments.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
