Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou: Undercard, odds, date, start time, rumors, location, complete guide

It's fight night once again in Saudi Arabia. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou looks to do the improbable when he steps back into the boxing ring against former unified heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua. It also goes down from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh on Friday night.

Ngannou was a bruising striker in mixed martial arts, smashing through the competition to become UFC champion before leaving the promotion amid a contract dispute over both financial aspects and Ngannou's desire to test himself in the boxing ring. Very few gave Ngannou a chance against Tyson Fury in their October 2023 meeting given, even in MMA, he was not the most technical striker.

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Against Fury, Ngannou showed surprising technique but also a veteran's patience to take advantage of a somewhat unfocused Fury. While he didn't get the win, Ngannou gave Fury, the consensus best heavyweight boxer in the world, one of the toughest fights of his career, leading to a demand for Ngannou to return to the boxing ring. 

Joshua, a two-time former unified champion, is looking to cash in by being the man to take advantage of Ngannou's public momentum.

After back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk -- who will now fight Fury to crown an undisputed heavyweight champion -- Joshua has rattled off wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin. That run was built around making a fight with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, but Wilder lost to Joseph Parker on the undercard of Joshua's win over Wallin, leaving Ngannou as Joshua's best big money option.

There's another intriguing heavyweight fight on Friday night with title implications. WBO interim champ Zhilei Zhang is set to take on Jospeh Parker. Zhang earned the interim title with an April 2023 TKO win over Joe Joyce. He retained that status in a rematch five months later with a second TKO of Joyce. Now, he takes on Parker, who is coming off his own impressive win over former WBC champ Deontay Wilder in December. The winner is likely to become a mandatory challenger for the winner of Usyk-Fury at some point later this year.

Below is the announced fight card for the event going down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia along with how you can catch the action.

Joshua vs. Ngannou fight card, odds

• Anthony Joshua -345 vs. Francis Ngannou +270, heavyweights
• Nick Ball -190 vs. Rey Vargas (c) +158, WBC featherweight title
• Israil Madrimov -400 vs. Magomed Kurbanov +310, vacant WBA super welterweight title
• Zhilei Zhang (c) -240 vs. Joseph Parker +195, WBO interim heavyweight title
• Mark Chamberlain -278 vs. Gavin Gwynne +222, lightweights
• Andrii Novytskyi vs. Juan Torres, heavyweights

Viewing information

• Date: March 8
• Location: Kingdom Arena -- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• Start time: 11 a.m. ET
• How to watch: DAZN PPV | Price: $39.99 (with subscription)

Countdown

Who wins Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua, and which props paying around +400 should you be all over? Visit SportsLine now to see Brandon Wise's best bets for Friday, all from the CBS combat sports specialist who just called Jake Paul's first-round win, and find out.