Anthony Joshua’s huge fight against Francis Ngannou will be broadcast on both Sky Sports and DAZN next month.
The former two-time world heavyweight champion returns to Saudi Arabia on March 8 for a high-profile bout against the ex-UFC heavyweight champion, who is looking to make another major splash in professional boxing after giving Tyson Fury a big scare before dropping a contentious 10-round split-decision in Riyadh back in October.
It was confirmed on Monday that DAZN would be broadcasting the card known as ‘Knockout Chaos’ that also includes a WBO interim title fight between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker as the co-main event, with coverage of Joshua vs Ngannou also available to watch live on Sky Sports Box Office.
It marks Joshua’s first contest shown live on Sky since his first defeat by Oleksandr Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in September 2021, with ‘AJ’ having previously seen his fights broadcast on the platform since he turned professional in 2013.
Joshua’s Sky deal expired after the initial Usyk match-up, however, and he then penned a blockbuster deal with DAZN worth a reported £100million that saw him become a global ambassador for the service as well as a special advisor.
Joshua is taking a considerable risk against a man who shockingly floored the undefeated Fury in the third round of their thrilling encounter in the Middle East last year, hoping to continue his own comeback bid after notching up three successive wins since his pair of defeats by Usyk.
The London 2012 Olympic gold medalist outpointed Jermaine Franklin last April before a seventh-round knockout of Robert Helenius over the summer was followed by an emphatic fifth-round stoppage of Otto Wallin in Riyadh in December.
Now Joshua will hope to prove similarly dominant against Ngannou in his quest to be granted a shot at the winner of the mammoth clash between Usyk and Fury that is set to crown the first undisputed king of boxing’s blue-riband division since Lennox Lewis in 2000, having seen his hopes of meeting Deontay Wilder scuppered for now following the latter’s loss to Parker on the same Saudi card before Christmas.
Former undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk - who has held the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles since his first win over Joshua - and WBC champion Fury were finally due to go head to head in Riyadh last Saturday night (February 17), but the bout was postponed earlier this month after Fury sustained a nasty cut above his right eye during a sparring session.
The fight was quickly rearranged to take place on May 18, still in Riyadh.
