Ngannou was heavily criticised for walking away from UFC whilst he was still champion to get in the ring with the unbeaten ‘Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury last October.

However his move to the boxing word is looking like it’s turning out to be a highly calculated risk which has paid off.

Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou will take place this Friday, March 8.

Joshua has been in flying form since he lost back to back fights against Usyk, he has won three fight’s in a row and will look to make this fight against Ngannou his fourth.

Although Ngannou lost his debut fight in the boxing ring to Fury, he showed real quality even managing to knock down the undefeated ‘Gypsy King’

Although Ngannou lost the bout with Fury on points he did manage to make a statement by dropping the undefeated champion.

With the wait almost over, Mail Sport breaks down everything you need to know ahead of this eagerly anticipated clash.

When is Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou

The two fighting heavyweights will face off this Friday, March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

An official start time has yet to be released but from previous boxing bouts in Saudi Arabia we expect the main fight to get underway from 11pm UK time / 2am local time / 6pm ET / 3pm PT.

Which could see the early undercard fights get underway as early as 4pm GMT / 11am ET / 8am PT.

Joshua vs Ngannou is due to take place around 11pm UK time which would make it 2am local time / 6pm ET / 3pm PT

How can you watch?

Joshua vs Ngannou will be broadcast live on DAZN worldwide and will also be available on Sky Box Office for UK customers.

The fight will cost fans £19.99 for their subscriptions to either DAZN or Sky Sports and you can get a free month of DAZN with your pay-per-view purchase.

Joshua vs Ngannou Key information

Anthony Joshua

Age: 34

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 6ft 6in

Reach: 82″

Record: 27-0-3 (24 KO’s)

 

Francis Ngannou

Age: 37

Stance: Orthodox

Height: 6ft 4in

Reach: 83″

Record: 0-0-1

Full fight card

• Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou
• Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker (WBO interim heavyweight title)
• Nick Ball vs Rey Vargas – (WBC featherweight title)
• Israil Madrimov vs Magomed Kurbanov – (WBA super-welterweight title)
• Mark Chamberlain vs Gavin Gwynne (European lightweight championship)
• Andrii Novytskyi vs Juan Torres
• Justis Huni vs Kevin Lerena
• Ziyad Almaayouf vs Christian Lopes Flores
• Roman Fury vs Martin Svarc
• Jack McGann vs Louis Greene

Zhilei Zhang vs Joseph Parker headline the undercard fights as the two men will battle it out in the ring for the WBO interim heavyweight title WBO interim heavyweight title