2024-03-09 00:44:10
Ngannou will return to the ring in a fight with Joshua, Parker will fight with Zhilei, Kurbanov will fight with Madrimov
İdman.biz presents an article with a link to livesport.ru.
On the night of March 8-9, a boxing tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia. Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua will fight in the main event of the evening
Preliminary card fights
1. Mark Chamberlain and Gavin Guinn will fight in lightweight
2. Justice Honey will face Kevin Lerena at heavyweight
3. Ziyad Almayouf will fight Christian Flores in junior welterweight
4. Roman Fury will meet Martin Swartz in the first heavyweight division
5. Jack McGann will fight Louis Green in junior middleweight
The FIRST face-off of fight week! ???? | Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou
With the main thing
The main card of the boxing tournament in Saudi Arabia will open with a junior middleweight fight with the participation of Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov. The fighters occupy first and second positions in the WBA rankings.
Now the title according to this version is vacant, and it is he who will be at stake in the upcoming fight. Until recently, the belt belonged to Jermell Charlo, but the American refused to notify the WBA about his future plans and simply stopped communicating, deciding to go on vacation.
It was for this reason that the WBA stripped him of his title and designated Madrimov and Kurbanov as the main contenders. On the eve of the head-to-head confrontation, both fighters had not yet suffered a single defeat in their careers.
Israil Madrimov has 10 fights in the professional ring. In nine of them, the Uzbek boxer won and one fight with his participation ended in a draw. In the previous fight, Madrimov defeated Rafael Igbokwe by unanimous decision.
The last fight turned out similarly for the Russian. Last May, Kurbanov won on points against Michel Sorro. Magomed has many more fights in the professional ring.
He has 23 wins in 23 fights, but that still doesn’t make him a favorite. For each of the boxers, the head-to-head match will be a real test – the audience is waiting for an uncompromising showdown throughout all 12 rounds.
Ray Vargas (right)
Next in the ring as part of the featherweight title confrontation will be the current WBC champion Ray Vargas and the number one ranked in this line, Nick Ball.
The Mexican suffered the first defeat of his career in the previous fight, losing by unanimous decision to O’Shaka Foster. But it was a fight in the second featherweight, in a higher category.
As for the featherweight division, Vargas has never lost to anyone here. In total, the current champion has 36 victories in the professional ring and only a loss.
But this time Ray will have to face perhaps the most dangerous opponent in his weight class. Nick Ball is young and hungry to win. The 27-year-old Briton had previously cleared out the entire division and reached the title in the shortest possible time.
He had finished five of his previous six opponents and only his last opponent, Isaac Dobgoy, managed to survive a decision against Ball. The Briton approached the main fight of his life in the status of undefeated.
He has 19 won fights in the professional ring, in 11 of which Nick knocked out his opponents. For the featherweight division, Ball has a very tough shot. Vargas should be wary of the challenger’s hits, otherwise he risks losing by knockout.
Next will be a fight in the heavy division with the participation of interim WBO champion Zhang Zhilei and former holder of the main title in this line Joseph Parker.
In the previous fight, the New Zealander sensationally defeated the most formidable puncher in this division in the 21st century, Deontay Wilder. Then Parker beat the “bronze bomber” throughout all 12 rounds and took the fight by unanimous decision.
Joseph rebooted his career and returned to the title race. Now he is super motivated, because he only has one step left to take to the status of a contender for the main title. Parker is on a four-game winning streak.
Joseph has the advantage of speed and age at 8 years. Zhilei is already 40. But the Chinese boxer shows the highest level. Coming off his only career loss to Filip Hrgovic, Zhang knocked out previously undefeated Joe Joyce twice last year.
Zhilei’s strengths are his striking power and size. The weight of the Chinese in the ring reaches about 120 kg, while Joseph weighs only 105 kg. The best scenario for Zhang is a knockout before the start of the eighth round.
Parker, on the contrary, is more profitable to wear down his opponent throughout the entire distance and try to finish him in the championship segments.
Ngannou promised to knock out Joshua
In the main event of the evening, Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, the first and tenth ranked numbers according to the WBC, will meet in the heavy division. “AJ” was previously a three-line world champion.
However, after a defeat by Alexander Usik in September 2021 and failure in the return fight, the Briton finally parted with the belts. Then Joshua won 3 victories in a row. All these 3 fights took place in 2023, but the level of opposition for the ex-champion was far from the most outstanding.
Anthony defeated the little-known American boxer Jermaine Franklin by unanimous decision, and then finished two middle men Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin.
Joshua’s main advantage over Ngannou is his experience in the professional ring. However, Anthony himself takes the upcoming confrontation as seriously as possible, because his opponent is not as simple as it seems.
Francis Ngannou is a former UFC heavyweight champion. So far he has only one fight in the professional ring. Last October, in his boxing debut, “The Predator” met WBC title holder Tyson Fury and shocked the whole world.
Francis was not only not inferior to the eminent Briton in exchanges, but, on the contrary, superior to him. Ngannou even managed to knock Fury down, which was a surprise. “The Predator” was just a little short of making the biggest sensation of the century.
According to the judges, Ngannou lost that fight by split decision. However, even this result suggests that the Cameroonian is capable of a lot in the ring. In terms of technique and speed, Joshua has the advantage.
However, Francis can put out the lights on any opponent with an incredibly powerful strike. Joshua does not have the strongest chin and has been knocked out before. Therefore, Ngannou has a chance to win. Francis only needs one accurate hit.
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