Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, is apparently going to get another crack at boxing. Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed the news, first reported by Ariel Helwani, that Ngannou would face former unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this year.
Hearn said a Jan. 15 news conference will be held in London to announce the particulars.
Joshua opened as a -500 favorite according to SportsBetting.ag. Ngannou opened at +325.
It's a massive opportunity for Ngannou, who knocked down lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in their bout on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury, though, won a split decision.
It was a largely below average fight, but because Ngannou knocked down Fury and looked far better than expected, there was a lot of enthusiasm about Ngannou's performance. Fury was a massive favorite and Ngannou beat the odds by just being on his feet at the end of the bout, let alone by knocking Fury down.
The fight itself was dreadful other than the knockdown and Fury turned in arguably the worst performance of his career.
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Ngannou, though, was able to use it to land another massive payday, though no terms were announced. The Saudis, though, pay extraordinarily well and there is little doubt that both Ngannou and Joshua will earn enormous amounts of money.
But there will be some pressure on him now against Joshua. While Fury may have taken Ngannou lightly, Joshua would be a fool to do the same given what he saw from Ngannou in the future fight, and Joshua is no fool.
Joshua, who has done a good job of rebuilding himself after back-to-back decision losses for the unified heavyweight title to Oleksandr Usyk, is coming off of a fifth-round KO of Otto Wallin on Dec. 23 in Riyadh. Wallin's corner stopped the fight after the fifth round because of the punishment he had taken.
Ngannou won't have the element of surprise on his hands and he'll have an opponent in front of him who not only has been on form recently, but who will need a win in order to remain alive in the heavyweight title chase. Riyadh, which clearly is becoming the home of heavyweight boxing, will host a bout between Fury and Usyk for the undisputed title on Feb. 17.
Though Fury and Usyk are expected to fight two times, it is no given, and thus the Joshua-Ngannou winner will need to look sharp to potentially earn an opportunity against the Fury-Usyk winner for the title.
The other question Ngannou's decision begs is when he'll fight for the PFL. He signed with the Professional Fighters League on May 16, and after his bout with Fury, PFL CEO Peter Murray said Ngannou's next bout would be in the PFL. Since no date has been announced, that could still be possible but it appears unlikely at this point, particularly with a London news conference scheduled on Jan. 15 to formally announce Joshua-Ngannou.