- The fight will take place on March 8 in Riyadh, with the undercard taking shape
A new world title fight has been added to the undercard of Antony Joshua’s fight against Francis Ngannou in the second week of March.
The two heavyweights will headline in Riyadh, with AJ originally set to face Deontay Wilder before the American’s shock defeat to Joseph Parker.
Former UFC champion Ngannou will be competing in only his second professional fight, and he is still looking for his first victory just five months after a controversial defeat to Tyson Fury.
Ngannou lost via split decision after dropping Fury in the fight, and will now battle former heavyweight champion Joshua as he tries to make a name for himself in the boxing world.
The undercard is packed with exciting fights, with Israil Madrimov now set to capture Magomed Kurbanov’s vacant WBA super welterweight world title.
Anthony Joshua’s fight against Francis Ngannou has added a new world title fight to the undercard
Israil Madrimov (pictured) takes on Magomed Kurbanov’s vacant WBA super welterweight world title
Super champion Jermell Charlo was stripped of his titles while the current title was vacant
Jermell Charlo was previously the division’s undisputed champion but was stripped of his WBO title after facing Canelo Alvarez last September.
After losing to the Mexican, he vacated the IBF title in November and just months later was stripped of his WBC title and declared champion in the break, meaning he has lost both of his world titles outside the ring.
The reason given was that he had not made it clear when he planned to return to the ring.
In December, Charlo’s wife, Chyane Westbrook, reportedly filed for divorce and a temporary restraining order – a day before Mail Sport revealed his mysterious arrest on December 16 for allegedly assaulting a family member.
However, he remains WBA super welterweight super champion, while the regular championship is vacant.
Madrimov, meanwhile, is undefeated and heads into the fight with his last fight in July 2022, a draw against Michel Soro.
The previously agreed fight against Kurbanov will be for the WBA title, with the former petitioning the WBA to force his mandatory title fight.
Joshua will face Ngannou on March 8 in Riyadh, where he looked to continue building up after the defeats to Oleksandr Usyk
Ngannou, meanwhile, will be in only his second fight after losing to Tyson Fury in his first last year
The undercard will also see Zhilei Zhang take on Parker for the WBO interim heavyweight title, fresh off defeating Joe Joyce, while Rey Vargas will take on Nick Ball for the WBC featherweight title.
Elsewhere, Mark Chamberlain will take on Gavin Gwynne and Andrii Novytskyi will take on Juan Torres, while Ziyad Almaayouf, Roman Fury and Jack McGann wait to discover their opponents.