Francis Ngannou didn’t get the win in his first trip to the professional boxing ring, but that didn’t stop the former UFC heavyweight champion from shocking the world. Ngannou, who dropped Tyson Fury en route to losing a narrow split decision, returns to the ring to face another former world champion when he takes on Anthony Joshua on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou was a bruising striker in mixed martial arts, smashing through the competition to become UFC champion before leaving the promotion amid a contract dispute over both financial aspects and Ngannou’s desire to test himself in the boxing ring. Very few gave Ngannou a chance against Fury in their October 2023 meeting given, even in MMA, he was not the most technical striker.
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Against Fury, Ngannou showed surprising technique but also a veteran’s patience to take advantage of a somewhat unfocused Fury. While he didn’t get the win, Ngannou gave Fury, the consensus best heavyweight boxer in the world, one of the toughest fights of his career, leading to a demand for Ngannou to return to the boxing ring.
Joshua, a two-time former unified champion, is looking to cash in by being the man to take advantage of Ngannou’s public momentum.
After back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk — who will now fight Fury to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion — Joshua has rattled off wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin. That run was built around making a fight with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, but Wilder lost to Joseph Parker on the undercard of Joshua’s win over Wallin, leaving Ngannou as Joshua’s best big money option.
There are three other fights with either a full title or interim strap up for grabs on Friday night. Rey Vargas looks to defend his WBC featherweight title against Nick Ball. The vacant WBA junior middleweight title is at stake when Israil Madrimov takes on Magomed Kubranov. And the interim WBO heavyweight title is up for grabs when champion Zhilei Zhang attempts to defend against Joseph Parker.
Below is the announced fight card for the event going down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia along with how you can catch the action.
Joshua vs. Ngannou fight card, odds
- Anthony Joshua -400 vs. Francis Ngannou +300, heavyweights
- Rey Vargas (c) +138 vs. Nick Ball -160, WBC featherweight title
- Israil Madrimov vs. Magomed Kurbanov, vacant WBA super welterweight title
- Zhilei Zhang (c) -225 vs. Joseph Parker +170, WBO interim heavyweight title
- Mark Chamberlain vs. Gavin Gwynne, lightweights
- Andrii Novytskyi vs. Juan Torres, heavyweights
Viewing information
- Date: March 8
- Location: Kingdom Arena — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Start time: 11 a.m. ET
- How to watch: DAZN PPV | Price: $39.99 (with subscription)
