Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua to square off in boxing match،
Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou have reached an agreement for a heavyweight boxing match in Riyadh, Turki Alalshikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, announced on social media on Friday.
The fight will take place on March 8, sources told ESPN.
Joshua (27-3, 24 KO) was scheduled to face Deontay Wilder in a long-awaited clash on March 9 in Riyadh before Wilder was upset last month by Joseph Parker. Later that night, Joshua scored a fifth-round TKO over Otto Wallin after fracturing Wallin's nose.
The December 23 card in Riyadh was supposed to set up the Joshua-Wilder clash, but now Alalshikh has turned his attention to perhaps an even more intriguing clash for Joshua.
Joshua's victory over Wallin capped a resurgent 2023 campaign for the former heavyweight champion. He fought three times and, more importantly, showed the kind of killer instinct against Wallin that has generally been lacking since his upset TKO loss to Andy Ruiz in June 2019.
“I’m on a journey and I’m going to stay focused,” Joshua, 34, said after the victory. The fight was his first with trainer Ben Davison. I don't celebrate when we win these fights. I celebrate when I win the titles.”
A victory over Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, would bring him even closer to that goal.
Ngannou, 36, made his professional boxing debut in shocking fashion when he beat heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in October in Riyadh, en route to a split decision defeat.
Now, Ngannou (0-1) will prepare to prove his performance was no fluke against another British boxing star.
Joshua, a two-time heavyweight champion, regained his titles from Ruiz in Riyadh in December 2019, but then lost two fights to Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk will meet Fury on February 17 in Riyadh for the undisputed heavyweight championship, a fight that includes a two-way rematch clause.
The winner of Joshua-Ngannou will likely be well-positioned for a future clash against whoever emerges from Fury-Usyk with the titles.
Joshua, ESPN's No. 3 heavyweight, also has wins over Parker and Wladimir Klitschko. Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said a press conference would take place on January 15 in London.
