March 8 at a boxing evening in Riyadh Francis Ngannou (0-1, 0 KO) will meet with former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs). “It’s time to make history again. Follow me as I prepare for the biggest fight of my life when I step into the ring with Anthony Joshua on Friday, March 8th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,” Ngannou said in a message to his fans.
Ngannou made his professional boxing debut last October when he faced WBC champion Tyson Fury in a 10-round non-title fight. To the surprise of many, Ngannou showed amazing boxing against Fury and even managed to send his opponent to the floor with a perfectly timed counterattack in the third round. At the end of 10 rounds, Fury won by split decision, but many viewers felt that Ngannou did enough to deserve the win.
On the other hand, Joshua, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, is on the road to a comeback after losing his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk in 2022. AJ has been fighting heavily lately, despite being at an age where top heavyweights typically fight once or twice a year. Joshua fought three times last year and is on a three-fight winning streak. Last April, AJ defeated Jermaine Franklin via unanimous decision. Then, in August, he stopped Robert Helenius in the 7th round. And then in December Joshua outclassed Otto Wallin when the Swede's corner stopped the fight after the 5th round.
