Anthony Joshua labelled Francis Ngannou “a gimmick” of the heavyweight division when the former UFC star fought world champion Fury back in October.
Now the British heavyweight has the challenge of facing Ngannou and proclaimed he would “take his soul” in the ring in their rumble in Riyadh.
There is more than a little jeopardy for Joshua when the two huge punchers collide in an event labelled ‘Knockout Chaos’.
The march towards the Middle East continues, with more ties and deeper investment. There is no “gimmick” in the growth of boxing’s big-fight presence in Saudi Arabia. Saudi minister Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment and Riyadh Season, has signalled his intent and signed Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang to the March card.
Rival British promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn will also duke it out with a card later this year, bringing five fighters from each of their stables to go up against each other. Warren and Hearn shook hands on stage as the Saudi Minister announced the deal – with more to come, not least Tyson Fury’s undisputed heavyweight showdown with Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh. Fury is already in Saudi Arabia for an eight-week camp and Ngannou leaves for the Kingdom on Tuesday.
Promoter George Warren, Frank Warren’s son who is working closely with Al-Sheikh, told Telegraph Sport: “I believe they’re here for the long term in the sport. This is just getting bigger and bigger, and the investment in boxing is here for the long term.”
His father, Frank, has said boxing “is being revolutionised”. Boxing’s propensity for politics and tendency towards procrastination is being turned on its head with these match-ups, which are bringing together the greatest fighters in their prime.
The next two months bring two of the biggest heavyweight events of the year: Fury has his work cut out against Usyk with two undefeated fighters sharing an era-defining, legacy-creating moment in May. Joshua puts his own reputation on the line against the dangerous Ngannou, whose storyline from growing up in poverty and digging in a sand quarry as a teenager to becoming an all-conquering cage fighter in Las Vegas is a Hollywood script in itself. From there, there is the possibility of it leading to the biggest, richest all-British fight of all time: Fury versus Joshua. It could happen. It is getting closer.
Joshua, fresh from a brilliant performance against Otto Wallin in December and newly rejuvenated under young trainer Ben Davison, is flying high at present. It showed in his business-like demeanour in the face of Ngannou, bedecked in a golden cape to the Briton’s track-suited attire.