Anthony Joshua has already lined up who he will fight after Francis Ngannou.
Joshua is preparing to take on MMA fighter Ngannou in Saudi Arabia in March, with the Watford-born heavyweight plotting a path to eventually take on Tyson Fury in what would be among the most eagerly anticipated bouts in history.
Joshua was beaten by Oleksandr Usyk in 2021 and 2022, losing his WBO, IBF, and WBA belts in the process. Since then, Joshua has been on a redemption arc, beating Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin as he looks to return to boxing’s summit.
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He is now set to take on Ngannou, who controversially lost to Fury in December by split decision.
Should Joshua claim a victory against the MMA’s hardest puncher, however, he may be forced to wait before facing Fury.
Saudi adviser Turki Alalshikh - who has been in charge of delivering major boxing events to the Gulf state - admitted that Joshua was in talks to face Croatian Filip Hrgović rather than his compatriot.
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When asked if the winner of Joshua vs Ngannou remained in line to fight the victor of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, Turki Alalshikh told SBN: “I’ll tell you a secret - what is in my mind. If Ngannou wins, you know he will have a rematch against the champion [Fury].
“If Joshua wins, then it will take a long time for the winner of Tyson vs Usyk to face [the 34-year-old] as they’ll have a rematch.
“We’re thinking and discussing with the Joshua camp and [Filip] Hrgović camp, to maybe have a fight between them.”
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Fury’s undisputed heavyweight title fight with Usyk has been rearranged for 18 May.
The bout was originally due to take place on February 17 in Saudi Arabia, but it was postponed this week after the Fury suffered a “freak cut” above the eye in training.
Topics: Boxing, Francis Ngannou, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk
Chris Byfield