Saudi Arabia reportedly has massive plans for winner of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou
Saudi Arabia hopes to see the winner of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou fight for heavyweight gold.
Earlier today, the bout between 'AJ' and 'The Predator' was made official. Now, it didn't exactly come as a surprise, given that the fight was reported earlier this month. The bout itself was only made possible thanks to Deontay Wilder's upset loss to Joseph Parker in December.
As a result of 'The Bronze Bomber' suffering that defeat, his planned fight with Joshua fell through. In turn, promoters and Saudi Arabia quickly decided to have Ngannou fill in. On March 8, the two heavyweights will headline a stacked DAZN pay-per-view offering.
At today's press conference, the two men spoke about the contest. Joshua and Ngannou were both stoic, but each spoke about the future. With a win, each man has spoken about their plans to fight for heavyweight gold.
It appears that Turki Alalshikh and Saudi Arabia share the same vision. At today's press conference, he revealed plans for the winner of Joshua vs. Ngannou to face the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk. The bout is currently slated for Feb. 17.
While there's currently a rematch clause involved with that contest, Alalshikh feels confident that won't impact their plans.
Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou undercard to feature massive heavyweight bout
Earlier today, the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou undercard began to be filled out.
The aforementioned Joseph Parker was one of the key names on December's 'Day of Reckoning' card. Despite entering as a massive underdog against Deontay Wilder, the former champion put on a stellar performance to hand 'The Bronze Bomber' a rare loss.
Following the victory, the Australian called for a rematch with 'AJ'. Years ago, Joshua famously handed Parker his first career defeat by unanimous decision. While the former champion won't get a chance to avenge that loss, he's getting the next best thing.
As reported by Mike Coppinger of ESPN Ringside, Parker will meet WBO interim champion Zhilei Zhang in March. The two will fight in the co-main event of Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou in a 12-round bout.
For 'Big Bang' the bout will be his first since a knockout win over Joe Joyce in September. While he was later linked to a fight with Wilder, Zhang named Parker as his most-wanted opponent. He will get his wish and face the Aussie in two months.