Boxing: Anthony Joshua takes on Francis Ngannou in a fight that could make or break his career

A former heavyweight champion trying to make his way to a new chance at the World Championships and a mixed martial arts fighter returning to boxing after a satisfying first experience will enliven the main fight of an elite evening in Saudi Arabia, the new Mecca of sport: Britain’s Anthony Joshua will be tested this Friday against Cameroonian Francis Ngannou, who just over four months ago scared another Englishman, Tyson Fury. The main part of the card will start at 3pm and the background fight will be around 6pm (it can only be seen through the DAZN platform).

Although Saudi Arabia’s main attraction this weekend is Jeddah, on the shores of the Red Sea, where the second round of the Formula 1 season takes placethe capital of the kingdom will also offer huge attractions as part of the fourth edition of the Riyadh season, a set of cultural, sporting and gastronomic events aimed at washing the international image of the monarchy. The Egypt Cup final between Al-Ahly and Zamalek will be played on Friday at Al-Awwal Park stadium and with tickets sold out. At the same time and a few meters away, the Kingdom Arena, with a capacity of 30,000 spectators, will host some of today’s biggest heavyweights. Some will enter the ring, others will draw attention from the front row at ringside.

In a country where he has already fought three times, Joshua will face one trap-challenge. For the former monarch of the World Boxing Association, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organization, A victory is essential to maintain a privileged position in the long list of candidates for a gigantic occasion, even if everyone foresees a long wait: on May 18th, if there are no new reasons for the postponement, Tyson Fury and Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk They will meet, again in Riyadh, to anoint the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the era of the four governing bodies of world boxing. That fight features a rematch, whatever the outcome, so the rest of the heavyweight elite reckon they won’t be able to face the winner until 2025.

There were many who assumed that Joshua’s career was over after his second defeat against Usyk in August 2022 in Jeddah. However, the boxer born 34 years ago in Watford, who has a professional record of 27 victories (24 before the limit) and 3 setbacks, has since chained three victories. The last one was December 23rd when he knocked out the Swede Otto Wallin in Riyadh.

A positive result was expected that would pave the way for the fight against another former champion, the American Deontay Wilderwho that same evening he would face (and was expected to win) to New Zealander Joseph Parker. But Wilder lost and left a terrible image, which buried that possibility. Then it was necessary to look for an alternative for Joshua and out of the bag came the name of Ngannou, an opponent who can act as a springboard or a tombstone for the Briton’s career.

The Cameroonian, born on September 5, 1986 in Batié, 210 kilometers north-west of Yaoundé, is a newcomer to the world of boxing. In Paris, where he arrived at the age of 22 after crossing the Sahara on foot and crossing the Strait of Gibraltar on a precarious rafthe started practicing mixed martial arts and turned professional in 2013. Two years later he went to the United States to sign a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the main company on the planet dedicated to that discipline.

Ngannou won 17 of his 20 fights in the UFC and was heavyweight championbut at the beginning of 2023 he broke ties with the company managed by Dana White and in May he signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), another company dedicated to mixed martial arts, a contract that not only made him a fighter for the company , but also a member of the athletes’ advisory board and president and shareholder of its African subsidiary.

In his contract with the PFL, the African reserved the right to try his luck in the sport he had dreamed of since he was a teenager. “For more than a decade, I only dreamed of boxing. The opportunity arose (in the UFC) to shine, to become world champion, but the possibility of boxing was always open. It was something I needed, that I had to realize in order to feel complete.”he explained this week.

His entry into boxing came through the giant door. On October 28 he faced Tyson Fury in Riyadh and he came close to suffering a sensational defeat: he ended up losing on points in a disputed split decision after knocking out the World Boxing Council champion in the third round, who, nobility obliges, had arrived at the bout in less than optimal physical condition. That single performance earned him the Mexico-based organization placing him 10th in the heavyweight rankings (which qualifies him to fight for the crown) and giving him enough credit to now face Joshua.

“My rival knows me, he knows what he will face. “I’ve already lost the element of surprise.”acknowledged Ngannou, who registered 123,650 kilos at the official weigh-in on Thursday. “Francis is an exceptional fighter, big, with a powerful punch and a better boxer than we all believed he could be”praised the Englishman, who weighed 114,500 kilos on the scales.

Joshua is the big favorite to win in a match that will have Tyson Fury as a privileged spectator, who went to Riyadh with the excuse of attending the match that will see Roman, one of his younger brothers, protagonist that same evening (in his fourth professional outing, he will face the Czech Martin Svarc) .

However, the presence of Gypsy king He was not limited to discreet and silent accompaniment of his brother. Faithful to his style, the champion has demonstrated his usual dialectical show since his arrival on Saudi soil, which always combines numerous praises and insults. little by little for all his potential adversaries. Among many verbal splinters, revealed that Sheikh Turki Alalshikhpresident of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and responsible for transforming his country into a new boxing powerhouse, had announced that the winner of Friday’s main event will face the winner of his two bouts with Oleksandr Usyk.

This is, clearly, Joshua’s big goal. Ngannou instead has other short-term plans: the Professional Fighters League has already announced that he will debut in its structure in the coming months against The Brazilian Renan Ferreira. In any case, no one can rule out another excursion to the ensogados if he comes out of the case against the Englishman well. Just in case, Fury has already left him a warning about a possible rematch: “I’ll clean the ring with your ass again.”

While the clash between Joshua and Ngannou is the main attraction on Boxing Day in Riyadh, there will be three other fights of the highest level and competitiveness in an evening that will include 10 fights. Two other heavyweights also looking for a golden ticket will face each other in the semi-distance: Zhilei Zhang Chinese will expose his interim WBO title to the former world champion Joseph Parker.

In another title fight, two undefeated, the Uzbek Israil Madrimov and the Russian Magomed Kurbanovwill compete for the WBA super welterweight title, which is vacant because the organization declared the champion during the break to the American Jermell Charlo, who hasn’t put his belt on the line for almost two years. Furthermore, the Mexican Rey Vargas, featherweight monarch of the WBC, will be challenged by the number one in the ranking, the undefeated Englishman Nick Ball.