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Francis Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, is gearing up for his upcoming boxing match against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. Ngannou recently signed a deal to return to the boxing ring, following his split-decision loss to Tyson Fury. With Deontay Wilder's unexpected defeat to Joseph Parker, Ngannou secured the opportunity to face Joshua in a heavyweight clash scheduled for March 8th.
Originally, Wilder was slated to fight Joshua, but his loss prompted Saudi Arabia to consider alternative opponents. This turn of events opened the door for Ngannou, who is eager to secure a rematch with Fury by defeating Joshua.
In a surprising move, Ngannou has decided to forego training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and will instead train in Saudi Arabia. Although his head coach, Eric Nicksick, won't join him until next month, Ngannou will have the support of Dewey Cooper and other trainers. There are also rumors that Mike Tyson, who recently established a boxing gym in Saudi Arabia, may assist Ngannou in his preparations.
Dewey Cooper, Ngannou's coach, expressed his enthusiasm for the fight, stating,
"The fight gods, the gods of boxing, the gods of entertainment came together and made this [fight] happen. This wasn’t supposed to happen. … Now [Joshua] has no one to fight. Well, guess what? There’s someone that’ll fight him. There’s an MMA fighting champion that’ll fight him."
Both Ngannou and Joshua have made significant changes in their training camps leading up to the bout. Joshua started working with Ben Davison, Tyson Fury's former trainer, before his recent victory over Otto Wallin.