Boxing is the red light district of sports not only because it has had a shady reputation over the years but also because of the unpredictable nature of the sport. Late last year, Deontay Wilder shocked the world when he lost handily to Joseph Parker in his Saudi Arabian debut. The fight tanked a planned matchup against Anthony Joshua.
Now it is revealed that Joshua will face former UFC heavyweight champion turned boxer Francis Ngannou on March 8 back in Saudi Arabia.
The fight is the second professional boxing match for Ngannou and the second-biggest name he will fight after losing controversially to current WBC champion Tyson Fury last October.
Done Deal
Joshua’s promoter made it official with a post on X on Jan. 5.
“Tonight we confirm it’s a Done Deal! @anthonyjoshua v @francis_ngannou collide on a huge night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – press conference Jan 15 in London with full details dropping soon!”
The first sanctioning body to jump on the Francis Ngannou train was the World Boxing Council (WBC), which ranked the cage fighter as the No. 10 heavyweight after his fight against Tyson Fury. The 37-year-old knocked Fury down in their match, and many feel Ngannou won the fight, as he lost on points by a small margin. Luckily, his WBC title was off the line for Fury then, but that was before the WBC ranked Ngannou.
Ever since Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought Conor McGregor, an influx of MMA fighters have dared to be great and wanted to fight boxers in the ring. Thus far, besides McGregor, only Ngannou, Anderson Silva, and Anthony Pettis, who fought Roy Jones Jr. and won, have been successful. All except McGregor had to leave the UFC to accomplish those goals.
Ngannou’s Victory
The biggest winner is Ngannou before the bell even rings for the first round because he was thought to be dead in the water after he left the UFC. However, since then he has struck an amazing deal to keep fighting MMA for the Professional Fighters League and begin bringing fights to Africa; Ngannou is from Cameroon.
With chatter surrounding the idea that Deontay Wilder may be on the undercard against Zhilei Zhang (26-1-1), a 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the super heavyweight division who knocked out Joe Joyce twice in his last two fights, the deck is looking stacked against Wilder.
In boxing, only one punch can change a career, but for Deontay Wilder, in the shadow of Tyson Fury, Saudi Arabia might be where he hangs up the gloves.
