Anthony Joshua likely to face winner of Fury-Usyk if he beats Francis Ngannou in Riyadh

Anthony Joshua is in line for a shot at the undisputed heavyweight championship should he get past Francis Ngannou in Riyadh on March 8.

Joshua, a two-time title holder, enjoyed his best performance in years when he stopped Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia last December and now takes on Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, who exceeded all expectations on his professional boxing debut against WBC champion Tyson Fury.

The Joshua-Ngannou bout, which will headline a card billed as 'Knockout Chaos', was announced in London on Monday as the fourth big event of Riyadh Season. The third will take place on February 17 when Fury and Oleksandr Usyk fight to determine boxing's first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years.

And at the outset of the press conference, Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia, revealed he plans to pair the winners in a bout in the kingdom later in 2024.

"You understand now why there is Joshua v Ngannou... You will see the result of this match will connect [with] the result of February 17, this is our idea," said Alalshikh, who also outlined his plans for an undisputed light-heavyweight title fight between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol in June.

Joshua (27-3) returned to form in spectacular fashion with his five-round demolition of Wallin on December 23's 'Day of Reckoning' card, but insisted he wasn't looking past Ngannou – despite his aim of becoming a three-time world champion inching ever closer.

He said: "Every fight leads to somewhere so this fight is my everything... we will see where it leads me. Right now I am not thinking about any championship belts or anything, my main focus is Francis and on getting through an intense and focused