Why is Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou taking place on a Friday? Huge heavyweight fight impacted by F1

05/03/2024 10:37

Anthony Joshua will take on former UFC superstar Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia this week but the fight is scheduled for an unusual day.

Joshua is bidding to continue his winning streak in the ring as he aims to rebuild his career following the loss of his world titles.

Joshua takes on Ngannou in a huge event in March

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AJ knocked out Otto Wallin in December and now takes on Ngannou, who went toe-to-toe with Tyson Fury on his boxing debut, proving just how good he is.

Usually, the biggest fights will be scheduled for a prime-time Saturday night slot, however, this bout is set to take place on a Friday…

Why is Joshua vs Ngannou on a Friday?

Joshua vs Ngannou will take place on Friday, March 8 due to the F1.

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will take place across the same weekend with the race scheduled for Saturday, March 9.

So to avoid a clash between the sports, the F1 has stayed on Saturday and the fight is planned for Friday.

The race weekend at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the second of the racing calendar and plenty of eyes will be on the action.

Therefore, separating the two events also means organisers and broadcasters can get the best out of both.

F1 is also in Saudi Arabia on the same weekend

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Kicking off the weekend’s action is the huge heavyweight fight that will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh.

A start time for fight night is yet to be confirmed but the undercard action is expected to start around 4pm UK time on Friday, March 9.

The ring-walks for the main event can then be expected from 10pm.

talkSPORT will be providing coverage of the event with live updates on fight night.

And talkSPORT.com will be running also be running a live blog.