Heavyweight title hopeful Martin Bakole has offered his prediction ahead of the recently announced crossover fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou, where he believes that the fight will end inside the distance.

Ngannou shocked the world when he knocked down Tyson Fury in the third-round of a fight that was expected to be a one-sided win for the WBC champion, before losing a disputed split-decision.

Now, the former UFC superstar has the opportunity to go one better and defeat Joshua, to put the world of boxing on notice, with their fight coming out of the blue and formally announced last week.

In an interview with iFL TV, Bakole shared his intrigue and excitement at the bout, pondering how Ngannou will fare against an opponent who takes him more seriously, and predicting an upset.

Joshua-Ngannou will take place on March 8th in Riyadh, whilst Bakole has announced his ambitions to challenge Manuel Charr for the WBA Regular heavyweight title, as he continues to pursue world honours.

To think there are UFC fans out there that are still saying Francis Ngannou “fumbled the bag” when he rejected to sign a new contract in order to do his own thing is beyond understanding. He already won more than whathe earned during his entire UFC career with a single boxing match against Tyson Fury. After that spectacular debut, he landed another mega fight against Anthony Joshua as his second-ever boxing match. Riyadh sports events organizers are the ones we can all thank for that, they know what type of events people want to see worldwide. But there are many lingering questions about this event that still need to be covered.

How much is the Ngannou vs Joshua purse worth?

According to a recent report from Forbes, the estimated purse of the Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou purse will be worth an estimated $70 million. That won’t be split into two equal parts, Joshua is the one with the most prestige in boxing and he is the biggest box office draw. From that purse, the Brit is getting a reported $50 million while Ngannou is getting $20 million. All of this will be before pay-per-view sales. Once we know how well the fight does with viewership, we will know a more exct number of how much each fighter is getting paid for this event.

Ngannou vs Joshua date, venue and start time

With both parties confirmed to have agreed on this fight, we can already offer some more details of the event that is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A place that has slowly become the world’s boxing capital. Ngannou and Joshua will face each other on Friday, March 8 in a 12-round fight. This event is taking place on a Friday because the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is taking place on the same weekend. The main event is starting at 13:30 PST but the undercard is expected to start four hours before that. As far as the broadcast goes, DAZN PPV will be the ones hosting the vent.

Francis Ngannou made a huge impact on his boxing debut, and he has earned another huge fight in the squared circle where he will take on British heavyweight Anthony Joshua. The pair look set to meet in a huge heavyweight clash in Saudi Arabia in March, which will come just six months after the ex-UFC star scored a huge knockdown against Tyson Fury in his debut in the sport, which sent shockwaves through the division.

Ngannou earned a WBC ranking despite falling short on the final judges scorecards, and he will now have a big opportunity to propel his name into even further stardom. AJ himself is in good form, having won his last three fights including a stoppage demolition of Otto Wallin, which is considered his most convincing performance in the last couple of years. But ‘The Predator’ fancies his chances and has compared the size of the task to facing the ‘Gypsy King’ in October.

Francis Ngannou recently weighed in on his upcoming boxing match against Anthony Joshua and compared ‘AJ’ to his previous opponent Tyson Fury.

The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to face Joshua in a blockbuster 10-round boxing match on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The bout was announced two weeks after the Englishman dispatched Otto Wallin via TKO on the ‘Day of Reckoning’ card, where Deontay Wilder shockingly suffered an upset decision loss to Joseph Parker.

Due to Wilder losing, his next-planned opponent, Joshua, decided to move on and face Ngannou next instead. ‘The Predator’ is notably coming off a controversial split-decision loss to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who’s slated to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship against Oleksandr Usyk on Feb. 17.

During the Fury-Ngannou fight, the Cameroonian stunned fans with his skills and even scored a knockdown on the Englishman. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Ngannou compared Joshua to Fury and predicted a statement victory on March 8. He said:

Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou will earn eye-watering money for their fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 8.

Joshua will now face Ngannou, who almost claimed a shock win over Tyson Fury.

According to Sports Business Journal, Joshua will take home around £31 million from his clash with the former UFC star.

Ngannou would receive around half that amount at £16 million, which is double the amount that he made from his closely fought defeat to Fury last October.

Anthony Joshua has finalised terms for his next fight against Francis Ngannou, the former UFC champion, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on a reported date of Friday March 8; Joshua is also in contention for another world heavyweight title fight

Anthony Joshua will convincingly beat Francis Ngannou but that fight might not be the ideal preparation for a world title challenge, says Frazer Clarke.

Joshua has agreed a fight against Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on a reported date of Friday March 8.

Ngannou emerged with credit after flooring Tyson Fury in a split decision loss in October, but Olympic bronze medallist Clarke, a regular sparring partner for Joshua, has questioned whether the 34-year-old has chosen a suitable opponent.

“The good thing is about that one [Ngannou], we’ve already had a look at him now,” Clarke told Sky Sports.

“Before Fury was like the tester. He had to get in there when he wasn’t quite sure and neither were we about what he was going to get.

“I think he [Joshua] can beat him and can beat him well.

“If the world title is your aim, then I would probably say you’ll want a more competitive name on your resume to get back to that stage.

“You’ve been at the top, you’ve come down a bit, and you’ve now just fought Otto Wallin to bridge the gap. Maybe you need to bridge the gap again to the next level up to get you ready for the world titles. I’m not sure if Ngannou is that?

“Saying that he had a good performance against Fury, but then again, what does it come down to? I hate having this conversation with people, because it’s not what people want to hear, but pound notes is a massive thing in boxing and I think ultimately that will do the talking.”