Written by :
Published on :
Francis Ngannou did plenty to impress the boxing world during his fight with Tyson Fury this past October.
And, now, it appears he did enough to book another marquee match with a world class boxer.
It was reported Friday evening that Ngannou will fight former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. A press conference is expected to happen January 15 that will announce the date of the fight.
"Our team was quick to set odds for the bout. Joshua isn't nearly as big of a favorite as Fury was against the former UFC champion, but he's still favored, and the odds are on the move," BetOnline announced on Friday.
Ngannou didn’t come to terms with the UFC and ended up signing with PFL and he received an equity and a leadership role within the promotion as a result.
“I had a lot of controversial opinions about my career decisions because most of those things was about my career this year,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel. “Then negotiations with different organizations that were interested. A lot of them were just trying to navigate the narrative and potentially get some promotion. We have a lot of different people – some two faces.
“It’s part of the business and that’s something that I learned this year – how this business can be nasty," he said of his breakup with the UFC. "You have people who pretend to be something that they are not. But it’s a good part of the learning process. Becoming a fighter and stepping into that position is something you are not educated about. Most fighters never get educated, and that’s why for the most part, fighters keep getting screwed.”
Joshua is a British professional boxer who is a two-time former unified world heavyweight champion. He's held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Super version), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organization (WBO) titles twice between 2016 and 2021.
Fight Odds
Anthony Joshua -500
Francis Ngannou +325
The odds initially opened at Joshua -275 and Ngannou +215, but all of the early money coming in is on Joshua.
- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com
