The rumor had already been building for several weeks, it is now very well underway. Cameroonian fighter Francis Ngannou will have his second professional boxing fight in 2024. The world MMA star will face a reference in the discipline, British heavyweight Anthony Joshua, in Saudi Arabia. A shock that will cause sparks.
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Francis Ngannou did not wait long to put on his boxing gloves again. Just a few weeks later his epic fighton October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, against the undefeated WBC world champion, Tyson Fury, the Cameroonian colossus takes on another mountain, the Englishman Anthony Joshua.
The native of Batié, Cameroon, surprised everyone by taking Fury to the decision despite the obvious gap in boxing experience. Better yet, the “Gipsy King” found himself on the ground during the third round of the fight, stunned by his opponent’s devastating hook. A sequence which went around the world, much more than the final result of the confrontation and this questionable victory, on points, for the British world champion.
An astonishing performance while Francis Ngannou shone more in MMA (mixed martial arts): superstar of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) of which he held the world heavyweight belt, the Cameroonian has since signed up with the company competitor, the PFL (Professional Fighters League). But the call of boxing was hard to ignore. Since his heroic fight in Riyadh, Ngannou has entered the WBC rankings, one of the world’s leading boxing federations, at 10e place. A rank that could one day allow him to compete in a title fight.
Anthony Joshua has regained his splendor
But before dreaming bigger, we will have to overcome the obstacle Anthony Joshua, 34 years old, and his 111 kilos. The Briton was world champion in three different federations, between 2016 and 2019 then between 2019 and 2021, definitively losing his belts to the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.
The 2012 Olympic champion re-mobilized last year, three fights for three victories. The last, in December, by submission against the Swede Otto Wallin before the sixth round.
It is therefore against an opponent in great shape that Francis Ngannou will have to face again. A clash of the titans in Riyadh, the new El Dorado of world boxing, orchestrated by English promoter Eddie Hearn who made the fight official after weeks of rumors.
The precise date of this clash has not yet been announced, but it should take place in March. Next event not to be missed for fans of the noble art, the press conference in London on January 15, to begin one of the fights of the year.