It has been announced that world-famous heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua will fight Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia.

This development was announced by Matchroom and Queensberry on Friday night.

A date for the fight will be confirmed next week, with a press conference planned for January 15 in London.

On December 23, Joshua continued his quest to return to the top of the heavyweight division with a five-round win over Otto Wallin.

He was to fight Deontay Wilder next, but the American lost to Joseph Parker on the same card.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou knocked down Tyson Fury in his first professional boxing fight last October.

Fury won a split decision, but Ngannou is now ranked in the WBC’s top 10 of heavyweight contenders.

Speaking after his bout against Wallin, Joshua bragged: “I’m down to fight anyone. Whenever and whoever.”

On Saturday night, Anthony Joshua, won his third fight of this year, with a TKO victory over Otto Wallin.

The bout was billed as the main event of the “Day of Reckoning” card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier in 2023, Joshua secured victories over Jermaine Franklin in April and Robert Helenius in August.

Against Wallin, he cruised to a fifth-round technical knockout, which had been expected to be a tough challenge for the Nigerian-British boxer.

The only defeat Wallin has suffered before now came in 2019 against Tyson Fury.

Joshua now holds an impressive record of 27 victories and three losses, with 24 knockout wins.

Wallin’s coach, Joey Garnache, stopped the fight, to spare his man more suffering

Anthony Joshua, the globally-renowned British-Nigerian boxer, is currently going through a surreal experience.

The boxer is currently spending four days alone in a pitch-black room after paying £2,000 for the experience.

The style of retreat is used by various sporting stars as a method of meditation to help athletes be alone with their thoughts.

In a post on Instagram before embarking on the retreat, Joshua wrote: ‘Myself and [my friend] are about to embrace the darkness and solitude for four days (separate rooms).

‘Isolated with nothing to do except relax and clear the mind while being immersed in infinite darkness.’ He will emerge on Friday.

The 34-year-old has been fed via food passed into the room but there has been no social interaction or light all week.

NFL star Aaron Rodgers, who embarked on a similar retreat, shared his experience in March, stating: ‘It was a great reset for me, for my body and my mind,’ the 39-year-old said of the four-day excursion. ‘Maybe a little bit longer than I needed. I feel like by the time I got to the fourth day, I was like, ”Alright, I’m ready to come out”.

Anthony Joshua, the two-time heavyweight champion, has backtracked on his claim that he won’t fight again until December this year.

Instead, he has hinted at a potential return to the ring this summer.

Recall that Joshua had lost twice against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, leaving the door open for potential mega-fights with Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury or Joe Joyce.

Yet one week after beating Franklin, fans were left puzzled when Joshua revealed on social media that his next outing would not come for another eight months.

“Not ideal, but everything is part of a bigger picture,” Joshua wrote on Instagram.

That announcement was soon followed by astonishing reports which claimed Saudi Arabian officials are now planning a historic night of boxing which would see Joshua vs Wilder and Fury vs Usyk take place on the same card at the end of this year, with the winners of each bout then going on to lock horns in 2024.

However, Joshua has now suggested he could return to the ring in “July or August” if both he and his new coach Derrick James believe doing so is the right move.

“I thought as I have changed maybe three coaches in three years, it would be good to develop and work under the guidance of my new coach and by the time I am back in the ring, I have cemented and implemented everything he wants,” the British boxer told Sky Sports.

“But the only way we are going to put everything he is teaching me to the test is through fighting.

“So rather than putting pressure on myself, and I don’t want to lie to the fans at the time, I am fighting this date when there is still conversations, I just wanted to draw a line in the sand and say I am not fighting until this date.

“If I, my coach, decide to change my mind… I feel I am able to change my mind, right? So I am able to fight in July or August if I want, but right now, it is off the table, but we are subject to chance providing my coach is happy with what he sees.”