The heavyweight fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou Friday is shaping up to be far more than a boxing-mixed martial arts crossover.
Tyson Fury said he'll give the winner a shot at his undisputed world heavyweight title — assuming Fury still has it after fighting Oleksandr Usyk May 18.
Also at stake:
For Ngannou, the former UFC champion, it’s a chance to prove he’s a formidable boxer. He delivered a stunning performance in October in his pro boxing debut.
Pitted against world champ Tyson Fury, Ngannou, 37, scored the only knockdown of the fight and landed punishing blows before losing a controversial split decision. But he said he has not yet shocked the world.
"I’m still in the factory, building,'' Ngannou, a native of Cameroon, said this week. "You know, training, learning.''
For Joshua, the Brit, it’s an opportunity to continue his re-ascension. Joshua (27-3, 24 KO’s) has won three straight bouts after losing back-to-back fights to Usyk. But a loss to Ngannou would create serious doubts about whether Joshua, 34, can ever reclaim the championship belts he lost to Usyk in 2021.
“I’m looking forward to the occasion,'' Joshua said.
The fight card begins at 11 a.m. ET with the main event taking place approximately at 5:50 p.m. ET, according to DAZN.
Huni survived a final-round barrage to beat Lerena by unanimous decision in the 10-round heavyweight fight.
But Lerena, bloodied in the sixth round, delivered an electrifying effort in the final round. Twice he rocked Hunt, who wobbled but stayed on his feet and pulled out the victory.
The judges scored the fight 96-94, 96-94 and 98-92.
Huni, 24, improved to 9-0 and Lerena, 31, fell to 30-3.
Fury, who got knocked down by Ngannou in October before pulling out a victory by split decision, offered his thoughts on the matchup between Joshua and Ngannou.
“I think if Joshua uses his jab, moves his feet, he wins comfortably,’’ Fury said during an interview on the DAZN broadcast. “But if he gets involved, he could get attacked like I did.
“I should’ve probably used me jab and danced around him…But I tried to jump in with big power shots and, bang-bang. I was having a lot of success early with the one-two, and he was taking them, to his credit.’’
Fury said he got greedy, leading to Ngannou scoring a knockdown in the third round of his pro boxing debut.
“With his limited boxing experienced, he doesn’t really have the ability to,’’ Fury said of Ngannou. “After he’s landed and hurt someone, he doesn’t have the ability to set more shots up on an elite level boxer to get him out of there.
“But, hey, Anthony Joshua’s not as elusive as I am. Even on me worst not, he’s not as elusive as I am.”
There's little mystery as to why Joshua and Ngannou will be fighting in Saudi Arabia instead of Las Vegas.
Follow the money.
Ngannou passed on a three-fight, $8 million contract with the UFC. Then he reportedly made at least $10 million for his pro debut against Tyson Fury, according to Fury, and is set for another hefty payday for his fight against Joshua.
The Saudis are particularly enchanted with the top-ranked heavyweights.
Fox Sports Australia reported Joshua and Ngannou will be paid more than $70 million combined.
“It will soon be the fight capital of the world,’’ veteran boxing promoter Frank Warren told the London Times.
The main event may be scheduled for early evening Friday in the U.S., but it will be the wee hours of the morning local time. Riyadh is eight hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (GMT+3), meaning it was 7 p.m. when the preliminary fights began and will be approximately 1:50 a.m. Saturday when the main event gets underway.
Joshua is favored to defeat Ngannou, according to the BetMGM odds.
Main card
Preliminary card
Roman Fury, younger brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, improved to 4-0 with a victory by decision over Martin Svarc (2-2) of the Czech Republic in a four-round heavyweight bout.
Fury, 27, made his pro boxing debut in 2022.
Christian Lopez Flores of Mexico lost his 16th straight bout, with the latest defeat coming to Ziyad Almaayouf in a super lightweight bout.
But Flores (14-36-2) has significant work ahead to make history. Precisely, he will need 35 more consecutive losses to match the 51-fight losing streak stitched together by Robin Deakin of England between 2007 and 2015. Deakin, who fought in the super lightweight division, finished his career with a record of 2-53.
Almaayouf, who was born in Saudi Arabia but lives in Los Angeles, improved to 5-0 with a victory by unanimous decision over Christian Lopez Flores in a six-round super lightweight fight.
In a matchup with two Brits, Greene stopped McGann with a first-round TKO. Greene improved to 17-4 and McGann, a former MMA fighter, fell to 9-1-1.
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