Former two-time heavyweight boxing champion Antony Joshua will face ex-UFC superstar Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 8 March, 2024.
Ngannou – a former UFC heavyweight champion – is headed back to Riyadh for another major boxing match.
Ngannou knocked down Tyson Fury during their fight termed the ‘Battle of the Baddest’ in Riyadh in October last year.
A battered and relieved Fury was awarded a controversial split-decision win over the remarkable Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut in Riyadh.
Ngannou made a reported $10m for his fight with Fury.
Joshua, who has been without a belt since his loss to Oleksandr Usyk in September 2021, was targeting a fight against hard-hitting Croat Filip Hrgovic, but he will now take on Ngannou.
Joshua hopes this year will see him becomes world champion again. He has won his last three fights and is eyeing a world title shot after dispatching Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia last December.
There is no one who can dispute that Saudi Arabia is now a major player in boxing with more major fights on the way this year.
Before Joshua vs Ngannou in March, boxing’s heavyweight division will crown an undisputed champion for the first time in almost 25 years.
Tyson Fury’s bout with Oleksandr Usyk has been confirmed for February 17 2024 in Riyadh – billed as the “Ring of Fire”.
“This is a historic event. The whole world of boxing has been waiting for many, many years, and they now have this fight”, Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told a media conference.
“For the first time this century, we will have an undisputed heavyweight champion”
