On Friday, March 8, Anthony Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) will fight Francis Ngannou (0-1, 0 KOs) on a card titled “Knockout Chaos.” The card will take place at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On January 15, the opening press conference took place – and Dan Rafael revealed just before that a fascinating fight had been added to the undercard.
Jospeh Parker vs. Zhilei Zhang Added to ‘Knockout Chaos‘ Fight Card
Parker vs. Zhang
Just before the opening press conference for this huge fight, Dan Rafael revealed via his X account that Joseph Parker (34-3, 23 KOs) vs. Zhilei Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) – has been added to the undercard of Joshua vs. Ngannou, for the the interim WBO title. Rafael also confirmed Rey Vargas (36-1, 22 KOs) will take on Nick Ball (19-0, 11 KOs) for the Mexicans WBC featherweight world title.
The New Zealander catapulted himself back to the top table in the heavyweight division with a dominant win over Wilder. Parker now faces the heavy-handed Zhang, who will be coming into the bout off the back of successive wins over Joe Joyce with a brutal stoppage in the second fight. The first victory over the British fighter saw the Chinese heavyweight win the interim WBO title. The New Zealander has won four fights in a row – since his eleventh-round KO loss to Joyce in 2022.
Future of the Heavyweight Division
At the “Knockout Chaos” presser, Turki Alalshikh of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority spoke about what comes next after March 8, with many anticipating a rematch between Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk: “You will see the result of this match will connect about the result of the 17 February – this is our idea.“
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