Anthony Joshua makes his first ring appearance of the year, opposite him will be former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The 10-round bout will serve as the main event of DAZN’s “Knockout Chaos” card taking place at Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia on March 8.
Joshua continues his push toward a heavyweight title fight, in December he forced Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin to retire by the fifth round. The win marked his third straight, a nice bounce back after suffering back-to-back losses to current unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. “AJ” will hope to not make the same mistake current WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury did and take Ngannou lightly.
Ngannou decided to bet on himself and part ways with the UFC. Last October he sent shockwaves through the boxing world, flooring Fury in his professional debut. Although he lost by way of a close split decision, Ngannou’s power punching ability clearly translated from the octagon to the boxing ring effortlessly. Now he has the opportunity to send another message before he heads over to the Professional Fighters League.
Many expected this to be Joshua finally going up against Deontay Wilder, but his disappointing loss to Joseph Parker soiled any chances of that. Instead, we get Ngannou’s second professional fight. For the most part, there seems to be a mutual respect between both entering Friday’s clash. Nonetheless, let’s dive into what payouts could be for this one.
Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou purse for Friday’s heavyweight bout
While there are no official numbers, multiple reports indicate both men will receive a generous payday for this bout.
For starters, Joshua’s projected payout is about $50 million, per Forbes. Fury was rumored to have received that amount in his October matchup against Ngannou. While this is an estimation, it may not be far off as “AJ” reportedly took home $8 million in his December bout against Wallin. Despite his opponent no longer being Wilder, Ngannou’s success against Fury makes him the more popular draw.
As for Ngannou, the former UFC standout is reportedly projected to take home $20 million. This is double the reported $10 million he received in October and a testament to how well his stock rose following the Fury bout. “The Predator” will once again enter with little to nothing to lose in this fight, but is demonstrating how much the UFC was holding him back from financial success.
These two heavyweights are bound to put on a show. Joshua is the betting favorite with -340 odds to win while Ngannou enters with +260 underdog odds, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
