Winner Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk/The Sun
Winner Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou will face the winner of the fight Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk. WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury revealed on Wednesday that there are plans for the winner of Friday’s Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou fight in Saudi Arabia to meet the winner of his duel with Oleksandr Usyk.
Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs), who spoke on a Queensberry Promotions broadcast to help promote the Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou fight and his upcoming May 18 fight for undisputed status with three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs), said that the encouragement for the winners to fight came from Saudi Arabian host Turki Alalshikh.
Both Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are frontrunners in their fights, and a meeting between these two hugely popular British boxers is likely to break historical live and pay-per-view records for the heavyweight class. “So there’s a lot at stake,” said Tyson Fury.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) have been sparring for years, building momentum for a fight that has been delayed and disrupted by promotional obstacles and Joshua’s losses to Andy Ruiz Jr, in 2019, and Usyk, in 2021 and 2022.
However, this week in Saudi Arabia, the friction eased when Joshua met Fury’s father John and they engaged in a friendly conversation – with the elder Fury praising Joshua and even calling Joshua a lovely person. “I’ve always liked ‘AJ,’” said John Fury, whose son, Roman, will also fight on the card. “He has done a lot for boxing. He will be champion again. He has shown me respect.”
Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, knocked Fury out in their fight last year and lost narrowly, before ultimately winning the fight against 2016-2019 champion Joshua, who at times showed a suspicious chin. “If [Joshua] boxing and using his skills, he will win on points,” said John Fury.
Tyson said [Ngannou] can really hit. [Di UFC] he was once elbowed in the head; kicked in the face. He is a tough guy. However, [keunggulan] the experience lies with AJ.”
Meanwhile, Tyson Fury is recovering from a cut on his eyebrow that saw a fight originally planned for February postponed against Usyk, a southpaw who was previously the undisputed cruiserweight champion. Usyk beat Joshua by unanimous decision in their first match, then earned a split decision victory in the rematch.
Joshua, 34, has won three straight fights, including a knockout over Robert Helenius and a fifth-round stoppage in Saudi Arabia in December over Otto Wallin, who badly injured Fury and fought with him in 2019.
Joshua said on a separate occasion that when he would fight Fury was a “golden question”. “I would say sooner rather than later,” Joshua said. “It’s been in the plan. It’s been a long time coming. It had to happen.”
