Another world title fight has been added to the undercard of Antony Joshua’s bout against Francis Ngannou in the second week of March.
The two heavyweights will headline the card in Riyadh, with AJ originally meant to face Deontay Wilder before the American’s shock defeat to Joseph Parker.
Former UFC champion Ngannou will be competing in just his second professional fight, and he is still looking for his first win just five months on from a controversial defeat to Tyson Fury.
Ngannou lost via split decision having dropped Fury in the bout, and will now step up to face former heavyweight champion Joshua as he bids to make a name for himself in the boxing world.
The undercard is littered with exciting fights, with Israil Madrimov now also set to take on Magomed Kurbanov vacant WBA super-welterweight world title.
Anthony Joshua’s fight against Francis Ngannou has seen another world title fight added to its undercard
Israil Madrimov (pictured) will take on Magomed Kurbanov vacant WBA super-welterweight world title
Super champion Jermell Charlo had been stripped of his titles with the current belt vacant
Jermell Charlo had previously been the undisputed champion of the division but was stripped of his WBO title after facing Canelo Alvarez in in September last year.
Having lost to the Mexican, he vacated the IBF title in November and he was just months later stripped of his WBC title and declared a champion in recess, meaning he has lost both his world titles outside the ring.
The reason given was that he had not made it clear when he intended to return to the ring.
In December, Charlo’s wife, Chyane Westbrook, reportedly filed for divorce and a temporary restraining order – one day before Mail Sport revealed his mysterious December 16 arrest for allegedly assaulting a family member.
He does, however, remain WBA super-welterweight super champion, with the regular championship vacant.
Madrimov, meanwhile, is undefeated and goes into the bout with his last fight in July 2022, which was a draw against Michel Soro.
The previously-agreed bout against Kurbanov will be for the WBA title, with the former filing a petition with the WBA to enforce his mandatory title fight.
Joshua will take on Ngannou on March 8 in Riyadh as he looked to continue to build following defeats to Oleksandr Usyk
Ngannou, meanwhile, will be competing in just his second bout having lost to Tyson Fury in his first last year
The undercard will also see Zhilei Zhang face Parker for the WBO interim heavyweight title fresh off beating Joe Joyce, while Rey Vargas will face Nick Ball for the WBC featherweight title.
Elsewhere, Mark Chamberlain will face Gavin Gwynne and Andrii Novytskyi will take on Juan Torres, while Ziyad Almaayouf, Roman Fury and Jack McGann are waiting to find out their opponents.