Anthony Joshua stated on Monday he’s hoping a battle towards ex-mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou will result in a shot at changing into the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
Ngannou
Former heavyweight world champion Joshua will face Ngannou in simply his second skilled bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 8.
ALSO READ: Anthony Joshua to face Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia in March
Three weeks previous to that battle, Tyson Fury takes Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh for the appropriate to turn into the primary undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999.
Joshua gained all three of his fights in 2023 as he bids to return to the highest of the heavyweight division, along with his most spectacular efficiency coming in a fifth-round stoppage of Otto Wallin final month.
Cameroon-born Ngannou solely made his skilled boxing debut in October, when he knocked down WBC champion Fury earlier than dropping a detailed choice.
ALSO READ: Fury v Ngannou is a ‘joke shop’ says former champ
“Every fight leads to somewhere, so this fight is my everything and we will see where it leads me,” stated Joshua because the fighters confronted off at a press convention in London.
“I have got to take his mind and his spirit, it will be explosive. We can both trade and it will be a good fight.”
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn didn’t cover from his ambitions for the previous Olympic champion.
“If you can imagine the winner of this fight against the winner of Fury v Usyk, it’s been a long dream of Anthony and his team to be undisputed.”
UFC
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou has one other shot at one of many largest names in the game after practically ending Fury’s unbeaten document.
ALSO READ: Mike Tyson serving to Francis Ngannou plot Tyson Fury ambush
“I’m going to come as an underdog to win the fight. I will get this done, I’m just a beginner,” stated Ngannou.
“I’ll come out higher and that’s how I see issues. I ready for a tough battle. The Fury battle is in the previous and I’ll take this extra critical than earlier than as a result of there’s extra on the road, the undisputed.
“I will do something nobody has done before and I have the tools to do that. It will not be an easy fight, but a possible one (to win).”
Both Joshua’s victory over Wallin and Ngannou’s shock exhibiting towards Fury additionally happened in the Saudi capital, with the oil-rich Gulf Kingdom quickly changing into the go-to vacation spot for promoters in search of huge purses for main bouts.
Saudi Arabia has lavished billions of {dollars} on sporting occasions in current years, together with the appropriate to host the 2034 World Cup, the LIV Golf circuit, a Formula One Grand Prix and soccer’s Club World Cup.
ALSO READ: Francis Ngannou doesn’t maintain all of the playing cards says former UFC title challenger
But the world’s largest exporter of oil has been accused by its critics of “sportswashing” through the use of sport to enhance its worldwide fame after widespread criticism for its human rights and environmental document.
© Agence France-Presse
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