Tyson Fury sent a clear message with his attire at the Ngannou-Joshua fight.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and boxing star Anthony Joshua are set to square off in what will be the second fight of Ngannou’s boxing career on Friday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tyson Fury, the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, defeated Ngannou via split decision in his first professional fight last October. He’s vowed to fight both Ngannou and Joshua before he retires, and when he arrived at Kingdom Arena for the fight, he was wearing a clear reminder that he’s the champion.
Fury donned a suit featuring a pattern comprised of different championship belts, a fitting look for the 35-year-old boxer who has held his title since 2020.
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 8, 2024
Both Ngannou and Joshua may get the chance to take that title away from Fury in the near future, but for now, he gets to watch the fight with bragging rights on his side.
Francis Ngannou offered his side of the story after a confrontation with Tyson Fury at Turki Al-Sheikh’s residence before Friday’s bout.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] added another layer to their rivalry before the former UFC heavyweight champ’s return to the boxing ring on Friday against Anthony Joshua.
With Ngannou vs. Joshua fight week in full swing, a group was invited to the residence of Turki Al-Sheikh on Tuesday that included Eddie Hearn, both headliners, co-headliners Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker, as well as Fury.
There’s a consistent story told by many who witnessed it, that Fury walked in and immediately confronted Ngannou to kick off a spirited and tense conversation over the result of their October bout, which Fury won by controversial split decision. On Wednesday, Ngannou shared his side of how it unfolded.
“When we met, he said I called him a coward and I said, ‘Wow, where did you hear that from? I never made that statement about anybody. I never called anybody a coward, unless you’re really a coward,'” Ngannou told MMA Junkie and other reporters in a media scrum. “But I don’t care to call a man that steps in the ring to fight another man, a coward.’
“He said, ‘Yeah, you said you beat me.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I did beat you – that doesn’t mean I called you a coward. But I did beat you.’ Then he was like, ‘Why does your record say 0-1?’ I’m like, ‘Well, if it’s about the record, I really start to doubt now if what your record says is true, because I did beat you.’ Then I think the argument was about that. I had to ask him like, ‘In fact, why did your fight get postponed from December to February?’ He said he got cut. I asked, ‘Did you slip on the floor or something?’ No, he didn’t slip. Why did you find yourself on the floor in the fight? You didn’t slip. I had my statement to make.”
Ngannou said he was unbothered by the entire saga, but it continued at the pre-fight press conference when Fury was heckling Ngannou from the front row. Ngannou snapped back, and although it’s clear Fury rubbed him the wrong way, “The Predator” said it’s all about his personal desire to get that rematch and fight for a definitive result.
“Either way, for me, it wasn’t a problem,” Ngannou said. “It wouldn’t be a problem if someone thought they had a win over me in competition. If it goes to decision, people have the right to believe they won or the judges got it wrong. It seems for him to be a problem. I said, ‘Either way, we don’t have to sort this out now.’ We will run it back. He better be ready because I will be ready. He will not be my first battle anymore and I’m going to bring everything that I have with me and I’m going to throw it all.
“I was very calm. I told him, ‘The only moment that you have a chance is in the boxing ring.’ The only chance he has is when the boxing rules apply.”
Francis Ngannou put Tyson Fury in his place after his former foe heckled him during Wednesday’s press conference with Anthony Joshua.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] put [autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] in his place at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference for his looming bout with Anthony Joshua.
After Ngannou and Fury got into a heated verbal exchange Tuesday night at Turki Al-Sheikh’s residence, the tension between the pair continued during the pre-fight press conference. Fury was seated front row and was heckling while Ngannou answered questions. and that prompted the former UFC heavyweight champ to issue a fiery response.
Ngannou reminded Fury that he was the only one to score a knockdown in their October bout, which Fury won by controversial split decision. Ngannou expects to run it back one day, and when he does, he doesn’t intend to leave anything to chance.
“I had the first one over him, and I still need to have the second one – it’s true,” Ngannou said. “You’re going to sleep in the (ring) again, and I’m going to wipe the ring with your ass again. You wiped the ring with your ass. There was blood in the ring, sticking to your pants.”
As the exchange continued, Ngannou reminded Fury that the only reason he has confidence is because any fights between them will be under boxing rules. If it were to take place under almost any other combat ruleset, Ngannou said it would get very ugly.
“I’ll tell you: Your only chance is in the boxing ring with the boxing rules,” Ngannou said. “When you step out of that ring, you better stay five meters away before you talk your sh*t, because if I lose it, you’re going to have a real bad time, my friend. So, respect the fact boxing is protecting us and the rules of boxing is protecting us, because without that, you are nothing in front of me. I’ll beat you every day – twice on Sunday.”
Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou: Date, time, how to watch, background.
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is scheduled to face MMA star-turned-boxer Francis Ngannou on pay-per-view Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
ANTHONY JOSHUA (27-3, 24 KOs) VS. FRANCIS NGANNOU (0-1, 0 KOs)
Date: Saturday, March 8
Time: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
TV/Stream: Pay-per-view
Division: Heavyweight (no limit)
At stake: No major titles
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Joshua 4-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Significance (up to five stars): ****
Also on the card: Zhilei Zhang vs. Joseph Parker, heavyweights; Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball, featherweights (for Vargas’ WBC title); Gavin Gwynne vs. Mark Chamberlain, lightweights; Justis Huni vs. Kevin Lerena, heavyweights
Background: Can Ngannou do it again? The MMA star-turned-boxer shocked the boxing world by pushing heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury to his limits on Oct. 28, when he lost a split decision. And he’s jumping directly into another fight with an established star, two-time champion Joshua. Ngannou probably benefitted from the fact Fury took him lightly, which Joshua will not have done. However, Ngannou demonstrated that he’s a capable boxer with unusual physical strength. He’s a genuine threat to Joshua even though he’s around a 4-1 underdog. Joshua is coming off his strongest performances in years, demolishing a solid opponent in Otto Wallin in five rounds on Dec. 23 at Kingdom Arena. He has now won three consecutive times since he lost back-to-back fights against Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. And he seems to be thriving under new trainer Ben Davison. The winner of this fight will be in a strong position to face the winner of the May 18 Usyk-Fury matchup, as will the winner of the Zhilei Zhang-Joseph Parker fight on the undercard Friday. Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) is coming off back-to-back knockouts of former title contender Joe Joyce last year. Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) delivered a career-changing unanimous decision victory over fellow former titleholder Deontay Wilder on the Joshua-Wallin card. The Kiwi has won four connective fights since he was stopped by Joyce in 11 rounds in 2022.
Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou: Date, time, how to watch, background.
Former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is scheduled to face MMA star-turned-boxer Francis Ngannou on pay-per-view Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
ANTHONY JOSHUA (27-3, 24 KOs) VS. FRANCIS NGANNOU (0-1, 0 KOs)
Date: Saturday, March 8
Time: 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT (main event later in show)
Where: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
TV/Stream: Pay-per-view
Division: Heavyweight (no limit)
At stake: No major titles
Pound-for-pound: None
Odds: Joshua 4-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
Significance (up to five stars): ****
Also on the card: Zhilei Zhang vs. Joseph Parker, heavyweights; Rey Vargas vs. Nick Ball, featherweights (for Vargas’ WBC title); Gavin Gwynne vs. Mark Chamberlain, lightweights; Justis Huni vs. Kevin Lerena, heavyweights
Background: Can Ngannou do it again? The MMA star-turned-boxer shocked the boxing world by pushing heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury to his limits on Oct. 28, when he lost a split decision. And he’s jumping directly into another fight with an established star, two-time champion Joshua. Ngannou probably benefitted from the fact Fury took him lightly, which Joshua will not have done. However, Ngannou demonstrated that he’s a capable boxer with unusual physical strength. He’s a genuine threat to Joshua even though he’s around a 4-1 underdog. Joshua is coming off his strongest performances in years, demolishing a solid opponent in Otto Wallin in five rounds on Dec. 23 at Kingdom Arena. He has now won three consecutive times since he lost back-to-back fights against Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. And he seems to be thriving under new trainer Ben Davison. The winner of this fight will be in a strong position to face the winner of the May 18 Usyk-Fury matchup, as will the winner of the Zhilei Zhang-Joseph Parker fight on the undercard Friday. Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) is coming off back-to-back knockouts of former title contender Joe Joyce last year. Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) delivered a career-changing unanimous decision victory over fellow former titleholder Deontay Wilder on the Joshua-Wallin card. The Kiwi has won four connective fights since he was stopped by Joyce in 11 rounds in 2022.
Pound-for-pound: Action will pick up in a big way beginning on April 20
That’s crickets you’re hearing when it comes to the pound-for-pound scene.
None of the 20 fighter’s on Boxing Junkie’s list — Nos. 1-15 and five Honorable Mentions — is scheduled to step into the ring until April 20, when No. 10 Devin Haney will defend his 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas.
The action picks up in a big way at that point, however. Between April 20 and June 1 — a span of only five-plus weeks — seven pound-for-pounders are scheduled to fight.
They are No. 2 Naoya Inoue, No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk, No. 4 Dmitry Bivol, No. 9 Tyson Fury, Haney, No. 12 Artur Beterbiev and No. 14 Vasiliy Lomachenko (see below for details).
That number could grow. No. 6 Canelo Alvarez is expected to fight on May 4, although no opponent has been announced. And Honorable Mention David Benavidez is in talks to face 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June.
And who knows what other matchups involving the best of the best might emerge?
Yes, the lack of activity at the moment is disappointing. However, patience will pay dividends. The biggest stars in the sport are in the gym as you read this preparing to perform.
Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 10 Devin Haney is scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 on pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to defend his undisputed 122-pound championship against Luis Nery on May 6 in Japan.
Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Dmitry Bivol – Scheduled to face No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
Canelo Alvarez – No fight scheduled.
Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Devin Haney– Scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 in Las Vegas.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – No fight scheduled.
Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to face No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
Vasiliy Lomachenko – Scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia.
Shakur Stevenson– No fight scheduled.
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (has agreed to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June but no deal is in place); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled).
Pound-for-pound: Action will pick up in a big way beginning on April 20
That’s crickets you’re hearing when it comes to the pound-for-pound scene.
None of the 20 fighter’s on Boxing Junkie’s list — Nos. 1-15 and five Honorable Mentions — is scheduled to step into the ring until April 20, when No. 10 Devin Haney will defend his 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia in Las Vegas.
The action picks up in a big way at that point, however. Between April 20 and June 1 — a span of only five-plus weeks — seven pound-for-pounders are scheduled to fight.
They are No. 2 Naoya Inoue, No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk, No. 4 Dmitry Bivol, No. 9 Tyson Fury, Haney, No. 12 Artur Beterbiev and No. 14 Vasiliy Lomachenko (see below for details).
That number could grow. No. 6 Canelo Alvarez is expected to fight on May 4, although no opponent has been announced. And Honorable Mention David Benavidez is in talks to face 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June.
And who knows what other matchups involving the best of the best might emerge?
Yes, the lack of activity at the moment is disappointing. However, patience will pay dividends. The biggest stars in the sport are in the gym as you read this preparing to perform.
Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 10 Devin Haney is scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 on pay-per-view from Las Vegas.
Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to defend his undisputed 122-pound championship against Luis Nery on May 6 in Japan.
Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Dmitry Bivol – Scheduled to face No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
Canelo Alvarez – No fight scheduled.
Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
Devin Haney– Scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 in Las Vegas.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – No fight scheduled.
Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to face No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
Vasiliy Lomachenko – Scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia.
Shakur Stevenson– No fight scheduled.
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (has agreed to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June but no deal is in place); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled).
Could Anthony Joshua’s final run as an elite heavyweight be his best?
The best of Anthony Joshua might be in his future.
That concept might sound absurd to many who have followed his career. After all, he lost three of five fights between 2019 and 2022, which changed the way the two-time heavyweight champion is perceived by pundits and fans.
However, things might be aligning themselves favorably for a strong run – a final run, the 34-year-old said – that could restore much of the luster he lost.
Joshua is scheduled to face MMA star-turned-boxer Francis Ngannou on pay-per-view Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If he wins, he’ll keep a close eye on the May 18 fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.
“I think we’ve got to see what happens … with the belts,” Joshua said last year, per The Independent. “Let them be competed for and then potentially let them go up in the air and then we’ll see where the belts land.
“Then just stay consistent, stay focused on improving for these next 12 to 16 months while I’m in title contention.”
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) was the unquestioned top heavyweight after Wladimir Klitschko declined, with victories over Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin (to win his first belt), Klitschko and Joseph Parker.
Then disaster struck in 2019. He was dropped four times and stopped by Andy Ruiz in seven rounds to lose the undisputed championship, after which he suffered one of the sport’s great indignities: His mental toughness was questioned.
He bounced back to easily outpoint Ruiz and regain his belts six months later but he looked timid, which didn’t help his reputation.
Then, after he stopped an aging Kubrat Pulev, he lost back-to-back decisions against former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. Some believed he was finished as one of the top heavyweights at that point.
Maybe not.
First, he gave a strong performance in the second fight with Usyk. He looked prepared and determined, and he boxed well, which is why the fight couldn’t have been much closer. Usyk won a split decision by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 113-115.
Joshua didn’t fight with his past ferocity in his next two fights, a unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin and a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius. However, the victories had him moving in the right direction.
And in his third fight, against Otto Wallin on Dec. 23, he delivered a vintage performance. He fought with the confidence he had pre-Ruiz, outclassed the solid Wallin with his formidable boxing skills and ended the fight in brutal fashion in the fifth round under new trainer Ben Davison.
It arguably was his best performance since he knocked out Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
“I’m on a journey, and I’m going to stay focused,” he said afterward. “I don’t celebrate when we win these fights. I celebrate when I win the titles.”
Also, his rivals seem to be more vulnerable than ever.
The big fight for him would be a showdown with countryman Tyson Fury, providing Fury gets past Usyk. Fury looked terrible in his meeting with Ngannou in October, going down in the third round but rallying to win a split decision.
If Fury has ever looked beatable, it’s now.
And if Usyk beats Fury? We’ll go back to the second Usyk-Joshua fight, which could’ve gone either way. And consider Usyk’s last fight, in which he went down and was hurt badly by a body shot but rallied to outpoint Daniel Dubois in the ninth round in August.
That performance and Joshua’s apparent resurgence would make a third fight between them fascinating.
Of course, Joshua has to beat Ngannou before moving on to a title shot. If he does, he’ll be first in line to fight for a title when the opportunity arises.
That could come against the May 18 winner, although Fury and Usyk could do it a second time. Joshua also will be in a strong position if a title opens up for any other reason. One or more sanctioning bodies could strip their champion, fighters get injured, they retire. Who knows?
The former champion’s job is what he said it is, “stay consistent, stay focused.” If he can do that and continue to have his hand raised, he should get the opportunity to prove he’s as good as we used to think he was.
Could Anthony Joshua’s final run as an elite heavyweight be his best?
The best of Anthony Joshua might be in his future.
That concept might sound absurd to many who have followed his career. After all, he lost three of five fights between 2019 and 2022, which changed the way the two-time heavyweight champion is perceived by pundits and fans.
However, things might be aligning themselves favorably for a strong run – a final run, the 34-year-old said – that could restore much of the luster he lost.
Joshua is scheduled to face MMA star-turned-boxer Francis Ngannou on pay-per-view Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. If he wins, he’ll keep a close eye on the May 18 fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.
“I think we’ve got to see what happens … with the belts,” Joshua said last year, per The Independent. “Let them be competed for and then potentially let them go up in the air and then we’ll see where the belts land.
“Then just stay consistent, stay focused on improving for these next 12 to 16 months while I’m in title contention.”
Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) was the unquestioned top heavyweight after Wladimir Klitschko declined, with victories over Dillian Whyte, Charles Martin (to win his first belt), Klitschko and Joseph Parker.
Then disaster struck in 2019. He was dropped four times and stopped by Andy Ruiz in seven rounds to lose the undisputed championship, after which he suffered one of the sport’s great indignities: His mental toughness was questioned.
He bounced back to easily outpoint Ruiz and regain his belts six months later but he looked timid, which didn’t help his reputation.
Then, after he stopped an aging Kubrat Pulev, he lost back-to-back decisions against former cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022. Some believed he was finished as one of the top heavyweights at that point.
Maybe not.
First, he gave a strong performance in the second fight with Usyk. He looked prepared and determined, and he boxed well, which is why the fight couldn’t have been much closer. Usyk won a split decision by scores of 116-112, 115-113 and 113-115.
Joshua didn’t fight with his past ferocity in his next two fights, a unanimous decision over Jermaine Franklin and a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius. However, the victories had him moving in the right direction.
And in his third fight, against Otto Wallin on Dec. 23, he delivered a vintage performance. He fought with the confidence he had pre-Ruiz, outclassed the solid Wallin with his formidable boxing skills and ended the fight in brutal fashion in the fifth round under new trainer Ben Davison.
It arguably was his best performance since he knocked out Alexander Povetkin in 2018.
“I’m on a journey, and I’m going to stay focused,” he said afterward. “I don’t celebrate when we win these fights. I celebrate when I win the titles.”
Also, his rivals seem to be more vulnerable than ever.
The big fight for him would be a showdown with countryman Tyson Fury, providing Fury gets past Usyk. Fury looked terrible in his meeting with Ngannou in October, going down in the third round but rallying to win a split decision.
If Fury has ever looked beatable, it’s now.
And if Usyk beats Fury? We’ll go back to the second Usyk-Joshua fight, which could’ve gone either way. And consider Usyk’s last fight, in which he went down and was hurt badly by a body shot but rallied to outpoint Daniel Dubois in the ninth round in August.
That performance and Joshua’s apparent resurgence would make a third fight between them fascinating.
Of course, Joshua has to beat Ngannou before moving on to a title shot. If he does, he’ll be first in line to fight for a title when the opportunity arises.
That could come against the May 18 winner, although Fury and Usyk could do it a second time. Joshua also will be in a strong position if a title opens up for any other reason. One or more sanctioning bodies could strip their champion, fighters get injured, they retire. Who knows?
The former champion’s job is what he said it is, “stay consistent, stay focused.” If he can do that and continue to have his hand raised, he should get the opportunity to prove he’s as good as we used to think he was.
Tyson Fury thinks Francis Ngannou needs to thank him for his recent success.
[autotag]Tyson Fury[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Francis Ngannou[/autotag] needs to thank him for his recent success.
WBC champion Fury scraped by former UFC heavyweight champ Ngannou (0-1) in a split decision win this past October, in a fight where he was knocked down. Despite losing, Ngannou became a ranked heavyweight after the fight and drew Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) next in a 10-round boxing match Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) takes credit for Ngannou’s rise and popularity in boxing.
“I think it’s a great fight, it’s a good fight,” Fury said on “The Stomping Ground” podcast. “When I was fighting Ngannou, it was ‘a mismatch’ and ‘a bullsh*t fight,’ but it is what it is, and styles make fights. … I’m not sure what people expected of the man before that.
“I know it was supposed to be a 1,000-1 shot and he was useless, and he couldn’t fight and all that. But he proved everyone wrong, so fantastic for him. I put him on the map, made him a multi-millionaire, and now I’m making him even more money. So he needs to thank me. He needs to get on his knees and kiss my feet, doesn’t he, for what I’ve done for him?”
Fury, who meets Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) May 18 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, isn’t concerned with who wins between Ngannou and Joshua.
“I don’t know and I don’t care, to be honest,” Fury said. “Whatever happens, happens. The best man will win on the night. They’re heavyweight giants, so anyone can win. Some good, brilliant fights on Friday – I’m looking forward to the whole bill.”
