Francis Ngannou had perhaps the best loss in a professional debut boxing has ever seen. Now he gets Anthony Joshua.
The former UFC heavyweight champion will face the former unified heavyweight champion in a 10-round match Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, five months after Ngannou earned the boxing world's respect with a split decision loss to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Ngannou entered that Fury match as a heavy underdog against the champion — one promoter called the matchup "a disgrace" — but he differentiated himself from the many MMA fighters-turned-boxers with a performance that wouldn't have looked out of place from a seasoned heavyweight contender.