[Boxing] Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou - March 9

[bisdak40]

Looking at the votes it seems that Nganmou winning for Knockout against Joshua but i doubt
that Anthony Joshua will just give this fight like that so this will be an interesting fight and i have not betting
for long now so maybe I consider putting bet for Joshua this time , will be looking for spread to decide once
it happens.

It is because Joshua's reputation has been shattered by Andy Ruiz, i mean he could be easily knockout as Ngannou is a power puncher if those punches land flush to the chin, i don't think Joshua could survive but that is one scenario the other being Joshua also hurting Ngannou easily as he also packs a punch. As what @FinneysTrueVision has said, this is an interesting fight as both have power and we know in boxing, a single punch could turn the fight around.

[TopTort777]

It is because Joshua's reputation has been shattered by Andy Ruiz, i mean he could be easily knockout as Ngannou is a power puncher if those punches land flush to the chin, i don't think Joshua could survive but that is one scenario the other being Joshua also hurting Ngannou easily as he also packs a punch. As what @FinneysTrueVision has said, this is an interesting fight as both have power and we know in boxing, a single punch could turn the fight around.

AJ reputation was shaken badly after two losses to Usyk. That first fight against Ruiz showed that AJ did not take him seriously or came unprepared for the fight (in interview AJ told that his weight was unusual for him, he was never so heavy before). But two consecutive losses to Usyk, that followed by "how you beat me?" when AJ freaked out. I would say that Ngannou or media will get into AJ head and he would feel uncomfortable during fight. And the predator wont miss that opportunity.

[Yaunfitda]

It is because Joshua's reputation has been shattered by Andy Ruiz, i mean he could be easily knockout as Ngannou is a power puncher if those punches land flush to the chin, i don't think Joshua could survive but that is one scenario the other being Joshua also hurting Ngannou easily as he also packs a punch. As what @FinneysTrueVision has said, this is an interesting fight as both have power and we know in boxing, a single punch could turn the fight around.

AJ reputation was shaken badly after two losses to Usyk. That first fight against Ruiz showed that AJ did not take him seriously or came unprepared for the fight (in interview AJ told that his weight was unusual for him, he was never so heavy before). But two consecutive losses to Usyk, that followed by "how you beat me?" when AJ freaked out. I would say that Ngannou or media will get into AJ head and he would feel uncomfortable during fight. And the predator wont miss that opportunity.

And to add to that, his chin, although we have been suspected that it's weak specially in the Klitscho fight, nevertheless we haven't seen him going down to a punch. But Andy Ruiz exposed him and the Usyk boxing skills shows that Joshua have a heard time beating a technical boxer. So in all, it's going to be a very dangerous fight because Ngannou can moved and then he has that power to knock him out.

With that, fans here think that Ngannou has a good chance to score a knockout punch.

But if I'm Joshua's camp though, I will make sure that Joshua will shows resiliency in this fight and unpredictability so that Ngannou can't execute his power on him.

[TopTort777]

We can also speculate on how much AJ and Ngannou are going to earn for this fight Does anyone knows the numbers? Definitely gonna be lower than Ngannou vs Tyson, but as the even is going to be in Saudi Arabia again, we might see some nice zeroes Btw funny how fighters negotiate for months and years about their opponents and paycheck, and now AJ fights in less than 3 months again. Ngannou has more time to prepare for it.

[Kemarit]

We can also speculate on how much AJ and Ngannou are going to earn for this fight Does anyone knows the numbers? Definitely gonna be lower than Ngannou vs Tyson, but as the even is going to be in Saudi Arabia again, we might see some nice zeroes Btw funny how fighters negotiate for months and years about their opponents and paycheck, and now AJ fights in less than 3 months again. Ngannou has more time to prepare for it.

Good question mate, so I did try to search for it, reports says that he earn $10 million in the Fury fight. But if you think that he will earn lower, you are wrong,

Ngannou's reputation in boxing is growing, leading to expectations of a $20 million pay-day for his fight with Anthony Joshua, not including pay-per-view sales and sponsorships.
 Anthony Joshua is also expecting a significant pay-day, with rumours suggesting he may demand the same $50 million that Fury earned for his fight with Ngannou. Both fighters' earnings are expected to match the magnitude of the occasion.

https://www.givemesport.com/anthony-joshua-vs-francis-ngannou-estimated-fight-purses/

So Ngannou is the real winner here, after he goes to boxing, his 1st fight alone give him his biggest paycheck.

And then we expect him getting more against AJ in the Middle East as the Saudi's is willing to shell out those oil money in boxing right now.

[bisdak40]

It is because Joshua's reputation has been shattered by Andy Ruiz, i mean he could be easily knockout as Ngannou is a power puncher if those punches land flush to the chin, i don't think Joshua could survive but that is one scenario the other being Joshua also hurting Ngannou easily as he also packs a punch. As what @FinneysTrueVision has said, this is an interesting fight as both have power and we know in boxing, a single punch could turn the fight around.

AJ reputation was shaken badly after two losses to Usyk. That first fight against Ruiz showed that AJ did not take him seriously or came unprepared for the fight (in interview AJ told that his weight was unusual for him, he was never so heavy before). But two consecutive losses to Usyk, that followed by "how you beat me?" when AJ freaked out. I would say that Ngannou or media will get into AJ head and he would feel uncomfortable during fight. And the predator wont miss that opportunity.

And to add to that, his chin, although we have been suspected that it's weak specially in the Klitscho fight, nevertheless we haven't seen him going down to a punch. But Andy Ruiz exposed him and the Usyk boxing skills shows that Joshua have a heard time beating a technical boxer. So in all, it's going to be a very dangerous fight because Ngannou can moved and then he has that power to knock him out.

With that, fans here think that Ngannou has a good chance to score a knockout punch.

But if I'm Joshua's camp though, I will make sure that Joshua will shows resiliency in this fight and unpredictability so that Ngannou can't execute his power on him.

Yeah, Ngannou has a high chance of winning a knockout here, i think his only chance because if this go to the distance, Joshua for sure will win as he is more technical than the former. As for me, AJ's confidence is not in him yet after that Ruiz lose, that's very evident to his two losses to Usyk. For me, a fight with Wilder is more risky than this one because Wilder just threw punches wildly.

Personally, I'm going to back AJ to win this fight as I want him to face Fury next for the "Battle of Britain".

[Lannakosa]

I looked at how much fighters get for a fight, and Joshua will receive about €50 million, and Ngannou about €20 million.

Why is there such a big difference, is it because Ngannou is not such an important fighter in the boxing world? Well, it seems that his decision to break his contract with the UFC was the right decision and now he will earn a lot of money for these two fights.

But it would be cool if Ngannou could beat Joshua. Ngannou is considered the underdog in this fight, but it seems to me that he is a very strong fighter and has enough talent (he showed this in the fight with Fury) to defeat Joshua.

[hilariousetc]

Hyped. I'd heard there was strong rumours about this fight last week and glad the Saudi's have now made it happen. I honestly can't even predict this fight. If Ngannou can floor Fury he can surely do the same to AJ. Ngannou has said that he didn't go in 100% against Fury because he was worried he would gas out quickly and Fury would take advantage of that. Now he knows he can go 10 rounds with the current heavyweight champ I think this makes him much more dangerous. I think I'd put money on either a Francis KO or AJ on points.

Also, does Francis Ngannou have any plans on fightning in MMA again?

Yes. He's signed a multi-fight deal with the PFL and also has equity in the company if I understand correctly. The trouble with the PFL is there's nobody really for him to fight. Name me one PFL heavyweight?

The PFL can create something similar to the gladiators during Roman times and have Francis Ngannou fight 3 lightweight fighters in an entertaining 3 vs. 1 hehehehehe.

I know Francis' promotion is called Gimmik Promotions but I think that's going a bit too far. I think the best thing right now for them would be to try do some one off fights with ex-UFC heavyweights or maybe even some mixed-rules fights against boxers. Francis pretty much stays on his feet anyway so it'll basically a boxing match but with MMA gloves. Wilder was in discussion to fight Francis in the PFL in a hybrid fight but I'm not sure if they can front him the money he wants but maybe Wilder will have to start taking paycuts now if he keeps losing.

n the other hand, for boxing, it is not good when a guy from other sports came and start to box on same or better level as champion and top boxers. It shows that boxing aint for selected and unique, and anyone from outside can become a champion.

Francis is just built different though and lets not forget he started out as a boxer and pretty much just boxes in MMA anyway. I think a bigger question people should be maybe asking is is Tyson Fury that good?

We can also speculate on how much AJ and Ngannou are going to earn for this fight Does anyone knows the numbers? Definitely gonna be lower than Ngannou vs Tyson, but as the even is going to be in Saudi Arabia again, we might see some nice zeroes Btw funny how fighters negotiate for months and years about their opponents and paycheck, and now AJ fights in less than 3 months again. Ngannou has more time to prepare for it.

They've said 8 figures so it's 10 million+. I suspect it'll be somewhere between 20-50 million tops.

[stadus]

We can also speculate on how much AJ and Ngannou are going to earn for this fight Does anyone knows the numbers? Definitely gonna be lower than Ngannou vs Tyson, but as the even is going to be in Saudi Arabia again, we might see some nice zeroes Btw funny how fighters negotiate for months and years about their opponents and paycheck, and now AJ fights in less than 3 months again. Ngannou has more time to prepare for it.

They've said 8 figures so it's 10 million+. I suspect it'll be somewhere between 20-50 million tops.

This is a big fight, so most likely he will get a huge paycheck at that range. Now, I'm wondering why big fights held in Saudi Arabia gets more money.

Anyway, as per his previous fights earnings especially against Usyk, it was reported that he earned $80 million on two fights.

From the two fights against Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua waled away with a total of $80 million between both events.

https://www.marca.com/en/boxing/2023/12/22/6585c8f0e2704e23b78b45cd.html

So, we can tell that despite AJ is not a champion anymore, his popularity still give him an opportunity to earn more money.

And, it's given that fights in higher division usually earn bigger revenue compared to the lowest.

[coin-investor]

I looked at how much fighters get for a fight, and Joshua will receive about €50 million, and Ngannou about €20 million.

Why is there such a big difference, is it because Ngannou is not such an important fighter in the boxing world? Well, it seems that his decision to break his contract with the UFC was the right decision and now he will earn a lot of money for these two fights.

But it would be cool if Ngannou could beat Joshua. Ngannou is considered the underdog in this fight, but it seems to me that he is a very strong fighter and has enough talent (he showed this in the fight with Fury) to defeat Joshua.

Ngannou will not get that kind of figure if he is still in the UFC, that's more than all the combined fights of all the fights of Ngannou in UFC, he is setting a trend for MMA fighters to venture to boxing where there is a lot of money to be made, Ngannou use the UFC to start his career but its on boxing where he will establish his legacy and will make a lot of money.

He has a good chance against Joshua if only he can take good trainers, Joshua has a better skill than Joshua but his power and how he takes big punches are questionable, if Ngannou can land punches Joshua will be in trouble, if Fury had hard time with Ngannou, Joshua will have to the fight seriously, it's a big humiliation losing a fight to a guy who only had two fights.

[pawel7777]

I don't think that Ngannou will come back to UFC, he had beef with Dana White and not sure if other organizations is willing to get him because if there is, he wouldn't box against Fury. And he get his biggest paycheck in boxing, so doesn't make sense for him if he can fight like 2-3 more and then fill his bank with millions.

Beefs mean nothing, if there's money to be made by both sides, they'll find an agreement pretty soon.
As of now, Ngannou is obviously better off sticking to boxing, he can earn a lot more and it's arguably easier then mma (I could be wrong here). But if he disappoints against Joshua, which is a possibility, then he might have to either retire or go back to MMA for a couple of last fights.
If he at least survives all rounds and lands at least a few good shots, then he'll likely get a chance to fight another boxing match. Re-match against Fury would make a lot of sense, and I think Fury spoke positively about that.

Does anybody know if it's going to be an official boxing fight or another exhibition fight?

[TravelMug]

I looked at how much fighters get for a fight, and Joshua will receive about €50 million, and Ngannou about €20 million.

Why is there such a big difference, is it because Ngannou is not such an important fighter in the boxing world? Well, it seems that his decision to break his contract with the UFC was the right decision and now he will earn a lot of money for these two fights.

But it would be cool if Ngannou could beat Joshua. Ngannou is considered the underdog in this fight, but it seems to me that he is a very strong fighter and has enough talent (he showed this in the fight with Fury) to defeat Joshua.

Ngannou will not get that kind of figure if he is still in the UFC, that's more than all the combined fights of all the fights of Ngannou in UFC, he is setting a trend for MMA fighters to venture to boxing where there is a lot of money to be made, Ngannou use the UFC to start his career but its on boxing where he will establish his legacy and will make a lot of money.

He has a good chance against Joshua if only he can take good trainers, Joshua has a better skill than Joshua but his power and how he takes big punches are questionable, if Ngannou can land punches Joshua will be in trouble, if Fury had hard time with Ngannou, Joshua will have to the fight seriously, it's a big humiliation losing a fight to a guy who only had two fights.

Yes and that's why it's very easy for him to and fight Fury, maybe it was also a way to rub it in to Dana and says that he is making more money combined when he was still under the organization of UFC.

So it's a win-win for Francis, in just 2 fights alone more than $20 million already and then he has a good chance to win more if he can win and knockout Joshua here and most likely face the winner of Usyk vs Fury for the biggest fight in boxing. They too has the Saudi's rich oil money willing to disposed hundreds of millions of dollars just to witnessed this great fight.

[TopTort777]

I don't think that Ngannou will come back to UFC, he had beef with Dana White and not sure if other organizations is willing to get him because if there is, he wouldn't box against Fury. And he get his biggest paycheck in boxing, so doesn't make sense for him if he can fight like 2-3 more and then fill his bank with millions.

Beefs mean nothing, if there's money to be made by both sides, they'll find an agreement pretty soon.
As of now, Ngannou is obviously better off sticking to boxing, he can earn a lot more and it's arguably easier then mma (I could be wrong here). But if he disappoints against Joshua, which is a possibility, then he might have to either retire or go back to MMA for a couple of last fights.
If he at least survives all rounds and lands at least a few good shots, then he'll likely get a chance to fight another boxing match. Re-match against Fury would make a lot of sense, and I think Fury spoke positively about that.

Does anybody know if it's going to be an official boxing fight or another exhibition fight?

What do you mean official or exhibition? Its probably ranked or unranked fight. If AJ had a belt, he would not have lost it if he would lose. The same as with Fury fight. Fury wasnt risking anything (except reputation).

Dont think that Ngannou would ever return to UFC. UFC rarely pay a million to a fighter (but fighters get more than a million if we calculate payment+ppv sales+victory bonus+sponsors). Here, from the start he got 10 times more he was earning in UFC. Now, as he has a place in board in PFL, media, fame, he dont really need to fight in mma to earn the same amount he earned in UFC.

[Natalim]

Dont think that Ngannou would ever return to UFC. UFC rarely pay a million to a fighter (but fighters get more than a million if we calculate payment+ppv sales+victory bonus+sponsors). Here, from the start he got 10 times more he was earning in UFC. Now, as he has a place in board in PFL, media, fame, he dont really need to fight in mma to earn the same amount he earned in UFC.

This is a sign that he will not return anymore, his performance against Fury that created some controversy as some believe that Fury did not win had already made Ngannou an instant celebrity in boxing. So for sure he will stay here, he might not dominate but in terms of paycheck, he is making like a boxing superstar is making, at an entry level.

[yazher]

We can also speculate on how much AJ and Ngannou are going to earn for this fight Does anyone knows the numbers? Definitely gonna be lower than Ngannou vs Tyson, but as the even is going to be in Saudi Arabia again, we might see some nice zeroes Btw funny how fighters negotiate for months and years about their opponents and paycheck, and now AJ fights in less than 3 months again. Ngannou has more time to prepare for it.

This is not bad at all and since Joshua is still one of the best boxers in the heavyweight division, they can promote this fight easily and there will be no problem for their promoters to sell this fight but what I want to see is some trash talking because it's really good to fuel it with some words before the fight. Ngannou already learned his lesson in his last fight with Fury that's why Joshua shouldn't underestimate him because it could be that he will caught by a huge surprise that could end up the fight shorter than we all expected. We already know that Ngannou can actually survive 12-round fights without any problem.

[hilariousetc]

The press conference is going to held on Monday in London according to Eddie Hearn: https://www.tntsports.co.uk/boxing/anthony-joshua-and-francis-ngannou-set-for-saudi-arabia-showdown-eddie-hearn-confirms-it-s-a-done-de_sto9944467/story.shtml

Hopefully they announce some undercard fights then as well. Very strong rumours that Wilder is wanting to avenge his loss fighting against possibly Zhang. I don't think Wilder is done yet but that's not a good fight for him. Zhang is a juggernaut, though if Wilder does win it throws him back in the mix as Zhang is the mandatory challenger for Usyk, though a win or great performance may also get the AJ fight back on track.

I don't think that Ngannou will come back to UFC, he had beef with Dana White and not sure if other organizations is willing to get him because if there is, he wouldn't box against Fury. And he get his biggest paycheck in boxing, so doesn't make sense for him if he can fight like 2-3 more and then fill his bank with millions.

Beefs mean nothing, if there's money to be made by both sides, they'll find an agreement pretty soon.
As of now, Ngannou is obviously better off sticking to boxing, he can earn a lot more and it's arguably easier then mma (I could be wrong here). But if he disappoints against Joshua, which is a possibility, then he might have to either retire or go back to MMA for a couple of last fights.
If he at least survives all rounds and lands at least a few good shots, then he'll likely get a chance to fight another boxing match. Re-match against Fury would make a lot of sense, and I think Fury spoke positively about that.

Does anybody know if it's going to be an official boxing fight or another exhibition fight?

It's not an exhibition and neither was the Fury fight. They're officially sanctioned by the WBC. There's just no belts on the line because Francis was unranked, though he is ranked now and will likely move up the ranks with a win over AJ.

I don't think that Ngannou will come back to UFC, he had beef with Dana White and not sure if other organizations is willing to get him because if there is, he wouldn't box against Fury. And he get his biggest paycheck in boxing, so doesn't make sense for him if he can fight like 2-3 more and then fill his bank with millions.

Beefs mean nothing, if there's money to be made by both sides, they'll find an agreement pretty soon.
As of now, Ngannou is obviously better off sticking to boxing, he can earn a lot more and it's arguably easier then mma (I could be wrong here). But if he disappoints against Joshua, which is a possibility, then he might have to either retire or go back to MMA for a couple of last fights.
If he at least survives all rounds and lands at least a few good shots, then he'll likely get a chance to fight another boxing match. Re-match against Fury would make a lot of sense, and I think Fury spoke positively about that.

Does anybody know if it's going to be an official boxing fight or another exhibition fight?

Beefs can mean something especially when egos are involved. Dana has pretty much been embarrassed by Ngannou by not only getting these huge deals in both boxing and MMA with the PFL but almost nearly beating Fury. Dana has been pretty childish towards Francis saying things like he was scared to fight Jon Jones which is BS. Dana just tried to low-ball Francis and strong-arm him into an unfavourable contract and Francis had the balls to just walk away and make his own path.  All Dana had to do was to just allow Francis to box outside of his UFC contract and had he done that Ngannou would likely still be with the UFC. Dana has been pretty hypocritical as well saying the UFC don't do gimmick cross-over fights but then offers to make Fury vs Jon Jones. Make up your mind.

[TopTort777]

Beefs can mean something especially when egos are involved. Dana has pretty much been embarrassed by Ngannou by not only getting these huge deals in both boxing and MMA with the PFL but almost nearly beating Fury. Dana has Dana pretty childish towards Francis saying things like he was scared to fight Jon Jones which is BS. Dana just tried to low-ball Francis and strong-arm him into an unfavourable contract and Francis had the balls to just walk away and make his own path.  All Dana had to do was to just allow Francis to box outside of his UFC contract and had he done that Ngannou would likely still be with the UFC. Dana has been pretty hypocritical as well saying the UFC don't do gimmick cross-over fights but then offers to make Fury vs Jon Jones. Make up your mind.

Dana can be understood also. If he would allow Francis to have a fight outside UFC, then other fighters will follow Francis and would also try to sit on two chairs at once. As a businessman he can be understood, as he was risking his asset in exchange for what? More fame and media? He could have allowed Ngannou to participate outside UFC only if other boxers would accept a fight under MMA rules and under UFC promotion. That would be fair. He others to earn on Ngannou name, then let him also earn on Fury name for example. That fight between Fury and Jones, he proposed that to happen under UFC flag.

P.S. Dana only allow his most milking cow to have a boxing fight, only because it would hype UFC also. And once he allowed his fighter to participate in other MMA event, but that was made when UFC were at the bottom and required any additional attention from the world.

[pawel7777]

Dont think that Ngannou would ever return to UFC. UFC rarely pay a million to a fighter (but fighters get more than a million if we calculate payment+ppv sales+victory bonus+sponsors). Here, from the start he got 10 times more he was earning in UFC. Now, as he has a place in board in PFL, media, fame, he dont really need to fight in mma to earn the same amount he earned in UFC.

Sure, but his boxing career could be short-lived if Joshua beats him easily. One of the reason for Fury's poor performance was no available material to analyse Ngannou's style and weaknesses. Joshua's team now has got at least something to work on.
But if Francis somehow manages to get that win, he's almost guaranteed to stay in boxing, and would likely get a fight with a winner of Fury Vs Usyk.

Dana has been pretty childish towards Francis saying things like he was scared to fight Jon Jones which is BS.

Did he really said that lol? It's funny because that's exactly what he was saying the other way around when Ngannou defeated Stipe and they wanted to set Jon against Francis but couldn't (for whatever reason), Dana was suggesting that Jon is afraid to fight Francis.

[Kemarit]

Dont think that Ngannou would ever return to UFC. UFC rarely pay a million to a fighter (but fighters get more than a million if we calculate payment+ppv sales+victory bonus+sponsors). Here, from the start he got 10 times more he was earning in UFC. Now, as he has a place in board in PFL, media, fame, he dont really need to fight in mma to earn the same amount he earned in UFC.

This is a sign that he will not return anymore, his performance against Fury that created some controversy as some believe that Fury did not win had already made Ngannou an instant celebrity in boxing. So for sure he will stay here, he might not dominate but in terms of paycheck, he is making like a boxing superstar is making, at an entry level.

And even if Francis decided to retire after his Fury and then Joshua fight, he will still have a lot of money in this pocket. Or if there is a good offer for him in the PFL and not in UFC under Dana, because of their personal beef, he can still make a lot of money.

For now, we should be looking for this fight though, I guess majority will agree that Francis based on his performance against Fury and if he improves, definitely Joshua is not going to be assured of a win here and maybe we will look and see upset as Francis power is scary and if landed of Joshua's chin which is weak, Ngannou will win by a impressive knockout.

[Yaunfitda]

I don't think that Ngannou will come back to UFC, he had beef with Dana White and not sure if other organizations is willing to get him because if there is, he wouldn't box against Fury. And he get his biggest paycheck in boxing, so doesn't make sense for him if he can fight like 2-3 more and then fill his bank with millions.

Beefs mean nothing, if there's money to be made by both sides, they'll find an agreement pretty soon.
As of now, Ngannou is obviously better off sticking to boxing, he can earn a lot more and it's arguably easier then mma (I could be wrong here). But if he disappoints against Joshua, which is a possibility, then he might have to either retire or go back to MMA for a couple of last fights.
If he at least survives all rounds and lands at least a few good shots, then he'll likely get a chance to fight another boxing match. Re-match against Fury would make a lot of sense, and I think Fury spoke positively about that.

It's not about a a fighter vs fighter beef, it's promotion (headed by Dana White) vs their fighter. So there's no agreement in between, and I don't think that Dana will give in to the demands of Francis if we talk about money. Dana is business and we all know that he will have his way one way or another and that's why I do not see Ngannou going back to his franchise.

And as we have seen, he is a natural striker with raw power. And boxing is the perfect fit for that kind of athlete. And besides, money in boxing is big for Heavyweight, specially that they have the back up of one of the richest nation, in Saudi Arabia.