Boxing

ANTHONY JOSHUA will be back in the ring later this year against the surprise package of 2023 – Francis Ngannou.The former two-time unified heavyweight champion will continue his career rebuild with a lucrative Saudi showdown with the MMA man-mountain.
Anthony Joshua will be back in action in MarchCredit: MATCHROOM BOXING
AJ will be back in action against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis NgannouCredit: GETTY
The pair will clash in Saudi Arabia on March 9Credit: INSTAGRAM@ANTHONYJOSHUA
Promoter Eddie Hearn announced the shock deal early on Saturday morning but stopped short of revealing the date for the fight.
SunSport, however, understands the Riyadh rumble has been earmarked for March 9 – the date initially reserved for AJ’s now dead-in-the-water clash with Deontay Wilder.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou shocked the world last October with a virtuoso display against WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, who he dropped in the third round of their “Battle of the Baddest”.
The combat sports world is abuzz with predictions for The Predator’s shock opponent for his ring return.
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So SunSport thought it’d only be right to break down all the pre-fight numbers ahead of their March meeting.
Age
Father Time is on the side of beloved Brit Joshua in his clash with the Cameroonian clubber.
Joshua turned 34 last October, while Ngannou celebrated his 37th birthday a month before he locked horns with Fury.
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Physical
Both men are absolute mountains, there’s no doubt about that.
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But AJ – who went 3-0 last year with wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin – is the taller of the musclebound duo.
The Watford warrior stands at 6’6 in comparison to Ngannou’s 6’4 stature.
Ngannou is, however, the heavier of the pair having weighed 19 st 4lb for his clash with Fury.
Joshua, meanwhile, weighed in nearly two stone lighter than Ngannou for his clash with Wallin – tipping the scales at 17st 9lb.
The duo’s respective reaches are virtually identical, with Ngannou edging out the battle with 83-inch-extending arms in comparison to Joshua’s 82-inch reach.
Anthony Joshua is the bigger man of the duo – standing at a whopping 6’6Credit: GETTY
Cameroonian clubber Ngannou is the heavier of the pairCredit: AFP
Records
Joshua has more career fights to his name than Ngannou, taking to the ring 30 times as a professional.
AJ has registered a whopping 24 stoppages and only tasted defeat three times, two of which came at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk.
Ngannou has a combined record of 21 fights in boxing and MMA and has picked up 12 knockouts in his 17 wins.
He has four defeats to his name, the last of which was controversially inflicted on him by Fury.

Anthony Joshua has knocked out 24 of 28 his career opponentsCredit: Reuters
Francis Ngannou has 12 brutal knockout wins on his resumeCredit: GETTY More

DESPITE years of talk and speculation, the heavyweight Battle of Britain between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has yet to happen. The rivalling pair have even signed contracts to fight in the past only for talks to break down.
Tyson Fury is yet to to fight Anthony Joshua after years of talksCredit: Getty
Joshua and Fury even once signed to fightCredit: Getty
It has left the debate raging between fans on who is not only the best heavyweight in the country, but the world.
One man in the unique position of having fought them both is Otto Wallin, who shot to attention for his 2019 bout with Fury.
He memorably left the Gypsy King needing 47 stitches and a lenient referee and doctor who allowed the action to continue.
Fury, 35, dug down and edged out a decision victory to keep his undefeated record intact.
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Fast forward four years and Wallin, 32, was named as the man to welcome AJ back to the ring in Saudi Arabia.
But Joshua, 34, gave the Swedish southpaw no chance of seeing the final bell as he dominated him over five rounds.
So Wallin – who was rightly pulled out by his corner – revealed AJ was much harder to fight compared to Fury.
He told  Boxing News: “I know that he is one of the best fighters out there.
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“I really have no excuses, he was just better. He did really well, used his reach well, and he hit me with some really good shots. He was just better.
“I think he had a good game plan. He felt like a very good fighter, and obviously, it was a much tougher fight than what I had with Tyson Fury.
“Maybe he’s found his home with Ben Davison.”
Fury beat Wallin in 2019 but only after suffering a cut that needed 47 stitchesCredit: Reuters
Joshua stopped Wallin in five dominant roundsCredit: Getty More

EDDIE HEARN has revealed the timeline for Anthony Joshua’s return following the collapse of his clash with Deontay Wilder.AJ’s £100million two-fight deal with the American went up in smoke last month after the American suffered a shock defeat to former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
Anthony Joshua was on course to fight Deontay Wilder twice this yearCredit: REUTERS
Wilder’s shock defeat to Jospeh Parker put paid to those £100million plansCredit: GETTY
Promoter Eddie Hearn reckons AJ will be back in action in MarchCredit: Getty
The first of the duo’s back-to-back fights was set to take place in Saudi Arabia on March 9.
And a spring return to action is still very much on the cards for the Brit, even though a long-overdue showdown with Wilder isn’t.
Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn told iFL TV: “I think he’s gonna fight in March.”
Hearn is hoping Joshua can replicate the schedule he had in 2023, in which he fought three times in the space ten months.
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He continued: “Then I guess he fights in August, September, so whether it’s three times in the calendar year or three times from March to March, something like that.”
A showdown with mandatory IBF title challenger Filip Hrogovic was seemingly in the pipeline for AJ after his dispatching of Otto Wallin last month.
But Hearn admits there are currently a lot of unknowns about the clash with Croatian clubber.
He said: “A lot has to happen by March to make that possible with Hrgovic.
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“Obviously, [Tyson Fury and [Oleksandr] Usyk fight in the middle of February.
“Are they gonna be able to keep the belt? Do they have to let it go? Is Joshua just gonna replace Wallin in the rankings? There’s a lot of discussions.
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A showdown with Francis Ngannou could be in the offing for AJCredit: GETTY
“If that’s in play for March, that’s definitely a possibility. Maybe that’s a fight that, when everything plays out, could be one for the summer.
“As I said, our conversations right now are about mapping out AJ’s next four or five fights … his 2024 and potentially the rest of his career.”
One fight Hearn is open to AJ having is a crossover clash with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
He said: “Right now, we have three fights that we’re in discussions for.
“They’re all big and that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder for March. Our aim, and they’ve expressed this is to fight the winner of Fury-Usyk.
“That’s all we want to do, obviously there’s the Hrgovic fight out there for the world heavyweight title.
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“There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there which would be absolutely colossal.
“There’s other heavyweights as well, there’s a Zhang fight possible as well with Queensberry.” More

TYSON FURY has been urged to adopt the game-plan that won him his first world titles in his bid for heavyweight immortality.The Gypsy King will bid to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in over 25 years next month against former pound-for-pound king Oleksandr Usyk.
Tyson Fury finally throws down with Oleksandr Usyk next monthCredit: GETTY
The winner of the pair’s showdown will become undisputed heavyweight champCredit: EPA
Brit Dave Allen (right) has given The Gypsy King some pointers on how to beat the Ukrainian
A staggering 21 men have tried and failed to beat the Ukranian, who reigned supreme at cruiserweight.
None of Usyk’s opponents, however, have boasted the physical attributes of Fury, which Dave Allen believes he should use along with the tactics he deployed in his 2015 win over Wladimir Klitschko to have his hand raised.
Allen told BBTV Boxing: “If I was training Tyson Fury, I would go about it with the same tactics he used in the Klitschko fight, from experience of sparring both.
“Lots will disagree with me, but I wouldn’t advise anyone to go marching onto Oleksandr Usyk.”
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Allen reckons the speed and craftiness of Usyk could see Fury floored if he the burly Brit reckons he can bulldoze his way to victory.
He said: “Tyson’s been down the last couple of fights – you don’t want to walk on to a man with that ability and that speed.
“Start cautiously, lots of trickery, and if Usyk slows down then that size advantage in the aspect of bullying can come into play.”
Allen knows a thing or two about Usyk’s speed and power having previously sparred with the Olympic gold medallist, who stung him so badly during a spar that he had to stop the session.
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And he believes Fury could benefit by adopting a feint-heavy approach in the Riyadh rumble.
Allen said: “I spent a lot of the rounds trying to put pressure on him, bully him – it didn’t work.
“He’s a master at [dealing with that.] People have been doing that for years with him.
“I think you’ve got to frustrate him. Lots of feints, lots of movements, you’ve got to antagonise him.
“He’s not physically the strongest. He’s not the biggest puncher. This [his head] is where he wins the fights. And I believe Tyson is the only man capable of beating him at his own game.”
WBC heavyweight king Fury knows the size of the task on his hands next month but is confident of delivering an emphatic stoppage victory.
He said: “It’s going to one of the fights for the ages.
“I believe we are both destined to be here and to be in this big fight in Saudi Arabia, and there’s only one winner, and I am destined to become the undisputed champion.
“More than that, I am destined to cement my legacy as the No. 1 fighter in this era.
“To do that I have to beat this little man and that’s it, simple as.
“Easier said than done I understand, he’s a tricky man, good boxer, slick.
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“But I have seen many people like him before and when they fight the big men they struggle.
“He’s going to struggle on February 17 and he’s going to lose, I will break him for sure.”
Tyson Fury believes he’ll stop Oleksandr UsykCredit: GETTY More