Anthony Joshua to battle Francis Ngannou as heavyweight showdown ‘finished deal’
Anthony Joshua’s subsequent opponent will likely be Francis Ngannou, with the Brit snubbing a battle in opposition to Deontay Wilder. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has confirmed the 2 will face off in Saudi Arabia, and can maintain a press convention in London on January 15.
With Joshua and Ngannou’s battle now confirmed, the battle between the 2 actually will likely be one to look at. Joshua’s final bout was on Dec. 23, additionally in Riyadh, throughout the “Day of Reckoning” occasion in opposition to Otto Wallin.
Joshua was declared the winner after 5 rounds when Wallin’s nook elected to retire the Swede to forestall any extra accidents. Speaking afterwards, Joshua remained calm over his efficiency, saying: “I can’t grade my performance. My performance team will judge me and the fans at home will have a lot to say, so I’ll leave it up to them.
“Not a throwback battle, simply one other battle. It was simply one other day within the workplace. All I need to be is victorious for so long as I can.”
After Joshua’s fight with Wallin, his next opponent was scheduled to be Deontay Wilder, had he defeated Joseph Parker in his bout earlier in the day. However, Parker defied expectations by shockingly defeating the former WBC world heavyweight champion in a unanimous decision.
With Wilder’s loss, that put to bed any potential superfight between him and Joshua. Originally, the two were scheduled to have a bout worth almost $102 million, but Wilder’s loss complicated any potential fight between the two powerhouses.
Still, the two boxer’s camps kept the lines of communication open, in the event that a potential super fight could be worked out. Although Wilder is approaching 40, he has shot down any talks of retiring, which Joshua appreciates.
“I’m not too positive what can occur from right here,” Joshua said after his fight. “Wilder simply got here up brief however he’ll dwell to battle one other day. Me and him might nonetheless get it on, we might nonetheless get it cracking. I consider I’m a large menace, I nonetheless suppose Wilder’s a menace and I nonetheless suppose it does superb numbers if we get it on. But I’ll depart that all the way down to my administration, trainers, promoters to make that call – I’m all the way down to battle anybody every time, and whoever.”
Joshua’s willingness to “battle anybody every time” confirmed when news revealed that he had come to a deal to battle Ngannou, the previous UFC heavyweight champion. The news is in stark distinction to what Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, mentioned in early December.
Hearn claims to have reached out to Ngannou’s crew for a possible bout however revealed that his queries for a battle have been by no means returned. Fast ahead one month and it seems the 2 sides have had sufficient conversations to warrant an announcement of a battle for later this 12 months.