Today (January 6), Beijing time, according to a number of media reports, former world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua has reached an agreement with UFC star "Iron Blood" Nganno, and the two sides will start a big battle in Saudi Arabia in March, the specific details are yet to be announced, but sources revealed that the match agreement has been basically finalized.
Initially, Joshua planned to take on Deonte "Bronze Bomber" Wilder on March 9, but Wilder lost his chance against Joshua after a surprise defeat to Joseph Parker last month, so Joshua needed to find a new opponent.
Earlier this week, Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn announced three potential opponents, and Naganno was one of them, along with "Big Bang" Zhang Zhilei and Filip Helgovic. Now, it seems, Nganano won the bid.
Renowned martial arts journalist Ariel Helwani was the first to report on the incident, saying he had reached out to the organizer, Turki Alashh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Sports and Entertainment, who had "confirmed" that Joshua and Naganno had reached an agreement.
Helwani wrote on social media: "This week, there will be big breaking news in the world of sports, and I have confirmed through Alalshh that it is a deal that has already been completed, and former UFC heavyweight champion Naganno is about to return to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Naganno had an incredible year as he left the UFC, signed with the PFL, and had a big fight with Tyson Fury that shocked everyone.
Earlier this year, he would return to the Circle in a boxing duel to face the former world heavyweight champion, who has used his power to achieve an incredible result in 2023, namely the recent victory at the "Day of Reckoning" event in Saudi Arabia, and he is the only AJ - Anthony Joshua.
It was an agreement that was reached by both sides – Joshua vs Naganno, a 10-round boxing confrontation that took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and I have confirmed this through Mr. Alalshh as well as through my own information channels. Later this month, a press conference will be held in London to officially announce the dates of the competition. Now, it's done – Joshua vs Nganno.
Shortly after Helwani's post, Nganno also posted a message through social media that seemed to confirm the battle with Joshua, where he wrote: Take major action in the new year and 2024 will be "fire" (a flame symbol).
Although many media reported that Joshua and Nganno will fight in March, considering the timing, especially the press conference to announce the event later this month, some analysts believe that the battle may be postponed to April or May, but the specific needs to be mainly officially announced.
Some fans are excited and disappointed by the Joshua vs. Nganno fight, but one thing is for sure, the fight will be worth it from a business perspective, and both Joshua and Nganno will be paid handsomely. Some fans ridiculed: Nganno won $10 million in the fight with Fury, and this time it will exceed $10 million!
Nganno is now gaining popularity, and an important reason is that he performed well against Fury a few months ago, he knocked out his opponent and only lost by a narrow score, according to the performance of this match, Nganno is indeed expected to fight Joshua, so there is a certain suspense in the competition, at least it is full of highlights.
Next, let's wait quietly for the specific situation! The author believes that one of the reasons why Nganno has brought great trouble to Fury is that Fury is not familiar with him, after all, it was Nagano's first foray into professional boxing, and there was nothing to learn from before, so that Fury was caught off guard, but unlike Joshua's confrontation, some things of Naganno have already been exposed there, so he should definitely be careful, Joshua will not make a mistake like Fury, and Naganno may be destroyed.