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The ripple effects of Francis Ngannou’s shockingly narrow split decision loss to Tyson Fury continue to be felt around the boxing world. The former UFC champion made a huge splash in his ring debut when he knocked the unbeaten ‘Gypsy King’ on his ass back in October in what was meant to be a walkover fight for the WBC champion on his way to bout against Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury’s struggles in Riyadh appear to have forced he and his management team to reconsider the timing of their planned title unification bout against the masterful Ukranian, pushing back a planned fight date on December 23rd of last year into February of 2024. As a result, however, the Saudis needed another big event for their end of the year plans and enlisted two of heavyweight’s other most notable talents to make it happen.
Francis Ngannou gets Anthony Joshua bout after Wilder falters
Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder took to the ring last month as the main and co-main event for a big boxing PPV to wrap up the year of sports-washing efforts for the Saudi Arabian monarchy. Unfortunately, despite long being penciled in as a dream fight for fans, Joshua and Wilder didn’t face off against one another. Instead, they took what were supposed to be their own Ngannou-Fury style warm-up fights that would line them up to square off in 2024.
Anthony Joshua won his, defeating Otto Wallin via TKO when the Swede failed to answer the bell for the 6th round. Wilder was not so fortunate. The American was almost entirely dominated in the ring by his opponent, with Parker taking the ‘Bronze Bomber”s best shots and making him pay for an inherent lack of output and structure in his game.
The result? Not a chance at revenge for Parker—who had already faced and lost to Joshua back in 2018—but instead a major opportunity for Francis Ngannou. The Cameroonian-born Frenchman suddenly stood alone as one of the few big name heavyweight boxers on the market without a fight already booked, with Joshua in need of a viable PPV opponent.
MMA Hour host Ariel Helwani first broke the news.
“Alright, massive breaking news this Friday evening, in the world of combat sports,” Helwani announced in a video released to social media. “I have confirmed, via [Saudi royal advisor] Mr. Turki AlAlSheikh that it is a done deal, it’s going down; Francis Ngannou, ‘Le Predator,’ the former UFC heavyweight champion, is returning to Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Of course, just a few months removed from his incredible performance against Tyson Fury; after an unbelievable year, where he leaves the UFC, he signs with PFL, then he gets the big Tyson fight and shocks everyone.
“He is returning to action, in a boxing match, later on this year; to go up against the former heavyweight champion, the man who had an incredible 2023 in his own right, the man who just won at ‘Day of Reckoning’ on December 23rd, in Riyadh—the one and only ‘AJ’ Anthony Joshua. It is a done deal on both ends. Anthony Joshua, Francis Ngannou, ten-round fight, later on this year in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
Helwani didn’t have a date for the event, saying that it would be announced later at an official press conference. However, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn, confirmed Helwani’s report and announced that the fight would go down on March 9th. Which will put it head-to-head with UFC 299: O’Malley vs. Vera. Although the time difference will likely mean that it airs much earlier in the day.
Eric Nicksick’s gonna get paid again
Among the revelations following Francis Ngannou’s first boxing match was the news that with the ‘Predator’ earning a top payday for himself inside the ring, that money trickled down to his coaching staff as well. Most notably, Xtreme Couture head coach Eric Nicksick (who served as an assistant coach for the bout under Dewey Cooper) told MMA Junkie in a recent interview that he got paid more for his assistant role in that fight than he did for either of Francis Ngannou’s UFC title fights where he was in the head coaching role.
“It was the most money I’ve ever been paid by a fighter,” Nicksick said of his cut from Francis Ngannou’s bout. “It was unbelievable. It was more than I expected. I wasn’t expecting—obviously Francis has always taken great care of me, but it floored me. I saw my Wells Fargo account that morning and it literally brought me to tears. That’s a true story; literally brought me to tears. Because, he changed my life.
“Not only from a professional standpoint, but a monetary standpoint; allowed me a lot of financial freedom to be able to enjoy my coaching, enjoy being a dad and a husband… allowed us to buy a new car. There’s a lot of things that just, with Francis moving over to boxing, and the way he takes care of his team? He loves every single one of us and he shows it. He takes care of us, and I couldn’t thank him enough.”
Nicksick added that he’d be “all for it” if Francis Ngannou wanted to continue his career inside the boxing ring. Congratulations, coach, go get yourself a vacation home.