BoxRec

Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou kickoff press conference

Former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou square off on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On January 15, the fighters host a launch press conference in London, where they preview their bout and come face to face for the very first time.

British former two-time unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) is riding a three-fight winning streak. The 34-year-old native of Watford, Hertfordshire won his previous bout last December via fifth-round RTD against Otto Wallin.

Francis Ngannou (0-1) was in action last October, when made his pro boxing debut against reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a non-title fight. Although dropping a split decision after 10 rounds, Cameroonian-French 37-year-old MMA fighter shocked the world, when he knocked his opponent down in the third round with left hook, as well as won the fight one of the judges scorecards.

The Joshua vs Ngannou showdown is scheduled for 10 rounds at heavyweight.

launch presser today! 5pm UK time.

Francis Ngannou moving Anthony Joshua fight camp from Las Vegas to Saudi Arabia

Francis Ngannou is picking up his training camp and moving it to Saudi Arabia.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to face Anthony Joshua on March 8th in Riyadh. That’s the same place he nearly defeated Tyson Fury in a boxing bout no one expected him to stand a chance in. “The Predator” silenced the doubters, knocking Fury down in the third round and losing a split decision by one controversial point.

Ngannou did all that with the same team that took him to championship gold in MMA: XTreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick and striking coach Dewey Cooper. For his fight with Joshua, there will be a slight change: Ngannou and Cooper will head to Saudi Arabia, where they’ll set up their training camp. Nicksick will arrive in mid-February.

The reason for the move from Las Vegas to Saudi Arabia? According to ESPN, Ngannou didn’t want to lose training time due to travel. He’s set to appear at a press conference with Anthony Joshua in London on Monday, January 15th. After that he’ll head straight to the Middle East, where he’ll remain until the fight goes down on March 8th.

No more travel, no more acclimatization to time zones or weather. And it doesn’t hurt that Francis Ngannou is being treated like a proper superstar by Saudi royalty. It’s a nice change after years of nickel and diming from UFC brass.

Anthony Joshua is coming off a big win over Otto Wallin in December. That was originally supposed to set up a big bout against Deontay Wilder, but Wilder dropped a lackluster decision to Joseph Parker on the same night. That opened the door for Ngannou, who is still riding high off his October performance against Fury.

Can “The Predator” continue to shock the boxing world? Let us know what you think of Francis’ chances in the comments below, Maniacs.

This needs another 6 or 7 decent heavyweight fights.

I'm not spending a penny of my wife's money on this main event

funso banjo baby wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 05:59 This needs another 6 or 7 decent heavyweight fights.

I'm not spending a penny of my wife's money on this main event

You never know, Mark DeMori might be available.

funso banjo baby wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 05:59 I'm not spending a penny of my wife's money on this main event

funso banjo baby wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 05:59 This needs another 6 or 7 decent heavyweight fights.

I think, much like Fury-Usyk.. They will try to add more of the other weights in..

jwfg wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 06:01

funso banjo baby wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 05:59 This needs another 6 or 7 decent heavyweight fights.

I'm not spending a penny of my wife's money on this main event

You never know, Mark DeMori might be available.

Looking at Joseph Parker vs. Zhilei Zhang for the undercard

Could be a good fight that.

If parker is able to negate Zhang for a few rounds, give him, a good shot of beating him down the stretch.

I'm surprised it's on a Friday.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 07:52

jwfg wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 06:01

funso banjo baby wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 05:59 This needs another 6 or 7 decent heavyweight fights.

I'm not spending a penny of my wife's money on this main event

You never know, Mark DeMori might be available.

Looking at Joseph Parker vs. Zhilei Zhang for the undercard

Roman Fury is on the bill. Have the Saudis ran out of money already?

You'd think with all their money they'd put some of these shows on free to air like BBC or ITV

do you work for one of the promoters Ruthless? I don't mean that bitchily, I just mean you're very informed with all this. That's a good thing btw, not a dig.

Was Dev was at the presser?

SeanBrennan wrote: ↑15 Jan 2024, 16:37 do you work for one of the promoters Ruthless? I don't mean that bitchily, I just mean you're very informed with all this. That's a good thing btw, not a dig.

No mate. No affiliation with anyone.

I just do what I do for the forum. Keep it active and going and fresh threads etc.

Not a super card yet

Ngannou: "I Heard [Joshua] Doesn’t Have A Chin; I Hope I Have The Opportunity To Test That Out"

“I’m going to fight him, so what do you think I’m going to do?,” Ngannou said. “It’s to find and look for his chin. I mean, that’s what [happens] in a fight. … In a fight, you try to hit somebody in the chin or wherever you can hit him, right? And then yes, I heard that he doesn’t have a chin. I don’t know if it’s true or not. I hope I have a opportunity to test that out. That’s my wish. That’s what I’m wishing for.”

“I been sitting here, listening to people talking, and even Eddie praising me, which I appreciate that,” Ngannou said. “But at the same time, I’m not sure if he’s honest or if he just wanna get me [to] sleep on his guy, which that’s not going to happen. I’m just a beginner out here that’s gonna train really hard and do everything and come as the underdog to win the fight.

“So, I don’t take my last fight as a reference and think that I get this done, and think that I get everything. You know, I know exactly where I am at. I’m just a beginner. And I’m definitely gonna come out better and, yes, get better and better. So, that’s how I see things. I’m getting prepared for a tough, hard fight.”

“Yes, the Tyson Fury fight was great,” Ngannou said. “It was awesome, but that’s now in the past and I have a new challenge in front of me. I take it even more serious now than before because now I think there is something more on the line, which is probably the undisputed [fight against Fury or Usyk].

“So, let’s see – maybe I will do something that nobody have done before. And I really believe that I have the tools of doing that, starting off having a win against AJ on March 8th in Riyadh. [It’s] gonna be a epic fight, not a easy one, but a possible one [to win]. And I’m going to take that.”

I think Joshua will catch Ngannou and knock him spark out

Oiky wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 05:48 I think Joshua will catch Ngannou and knock him spark out

Can see it done early

From Big Lennox:

I wonder if Joshua vs Ngannou will be able to match Fury vs Ngannou's 68k American pay per view buys.

big lennox wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 15:53 I wonder if Joshua vs Ngannou will be able to match Fury vs Ngannou's 68k American pay per view buys.

Be lucky to get 6k PPV buys

tony1234 wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 16:04

big lennox wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 15:53 I wonder if Joshua vs Ngannou will be able to match Fury vs Ngannou's 68k American pay per view buys.

Be lucky to get 6k PPV buys

Two non Americans fighting in Saudi ain't gonna be a big draw.

big lennox wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 15:53 I wonder if Joshua vs Ngannou will be able to match Fury vs Ngannou's 68k American pay per view buys.

In the USA Joshua is only known for getting sliced up by 4 Cheese Ruiz.