In a surprising turn of events, Francis Ngannou made his mark in the boxing world on October 28, 2023, by knocking down the lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and putting up a formidable fight throughout the bout in his boxing debut. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua made a triumphant return on December 23, 2023, against Otto Wallin .
Just 13 days after AJ's victorious comeback, on January 5, 2024, Ariel Helwani announced a signed contract between Francis and Joshua to face off in the boxing ring in Riyadh. The rumored date for this clash is March 9th, merely a week after the UFC's inaugural event in Saudi Arabia.
The opening odds, as per SportsBetting.ag via mmafighting.com , were as follows:
Anthony Joshua: -500
Francis Ngannou: +325
Interestingly, the initial odds for Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou were:
Tyson Fury: -1400
Francis Ngannou: +750
The odds for Ngannou underwent a significant shift as fans witnessed Anthony Joshua's return to his dominant boxing form and Francis Ngannou's impressive performance against Tyson Fury.
UFC's current active heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, took to Twitter on January 6, 2024, to ask the fans their opinion on the upcoming clash:
AJ vs Francis. Who wins?— Tom Aspinall (@AspinallMMA) January 6, 2024
A total of 127 valid votes were cast, and the results are as follows:
Votes
Percentage
AJ Wins
69
54%
FN Wins
56
44%
Draw
2
2%
Who do you think will win?
Anthony Joshua wins
Francis Ngannou wins
Draw
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Anthony Joshua wins
(71.43%)
5
/ 7
71.43% Complete (success)
Francis Ngannou wins
(14.29%)
1
/ 7
14.29% Complete (success)
Draw
(14.29%)
1
/ 7
14.29% Complete (success)
