Before Christmas, the script had already been written. Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder would meet on March 8 providing that they overcame Otto Wallin and Joseph Parker respectively.

However, contracts were ripped up once Wilder failed to deliver his end of the bargain, resulting in plans quickly being put in place for Joshua to go toe-to-toe with Francis Ngannou.

With Ngannou having already provided WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury with one of the toughest clashes of his career, this is now a mega-fight between two of the biggest punchers in combat sport.

Here, Sports Mole previews the 'Knockout Chaos' card in Riyadh, along with making predictions for each of the main bouts.

ANTHONY JOSHUA AND FRANCIS NGANNOU

There was a time when Joshua quickly dismissed the prospect of facing Ngannou. Back in the summer, he was viewed as purely a legendary UFC heavyweight champion, but not someone who could ever challenge any of the top names in boxing.

That myth was ended as soon as Ngannou dropped Fury in the third round of their bout in October. It was a punch that momentarily shocked the world before Fury did what was required to win on points. Despite the uproar, it was a perfectly credible result.

But the seeds had been sown. The Cameroonian puncher was now viewed as a bonafide threat to the heavyweight division, as well as a money fight for any contender wherever they sat in the rankings.

Promoter Eddie Hearn had frequently talked up the prospect of Joshua becoming a realistic opponent for Ngannou, yet he did not anticipate that it would be in the circumstances of Parker defeating Wilder on points.

Parker outboxed Wilder to such an extent that it made plenty of knowledgeable people in the sport question why it had not been done on a more frequent basis, and raised the question of whether Joshua and Wilder would have been a mismatch in the Briton's favour, rather than the American's.

That is all ifs and buts now as Joshua and Ngannou take centre stage at the Kingdom Arena, and the former will be wanting to put on a show at the venue for the second time in the space of 10 weeks.

Wallin was supposed to provide Joshua with a tricky test. He was a southpaw who had just impressively defeated Murat Gassiev, but Joshua was at his composed, ruthless best, quickly removing the pre-bout belief that Wallin had showed.

Ngannou will be a completely different beast due to his power, toughness and sheer size. In contrast to Fury, Joshua and his team have the benefit of 10 rounds of footage of Ngannou in a boxing ring, yet Ngannou now has the experience of fighting in the squared circle under the lights.

On Friday, we will find out which of those proves to be pivotal.

UNDERCARD

The undercard in Riyadh is stacked with intriguing and competitive fights, most notably the showdown between Parker and Zhilei Zhang with the reward for the winner a likely shot at the WBO title further down the line.

Zhang is the favourite, a consequence of the Chinese twice defeating Joe Joyce after Joyce had overpowered Parker, but the latter will feel a threat to anyone now that he has successfully disarmed Wilder over the distance.

England's Nick Ball goes for the WBC featherweight title against Rey Vargas, with Hearn hoping for a Ball victory to set up a unification clash with newly-crowned WBA champion Raymond Ford.

Israil Madrimov and Magomed Kurbanov square off for the vacant WBA super-welterweight belt, despite a recent medical issue for the former, while EBU lightweight champion Gavin Gwynne faces Mark Chamberlain.

Of the remaining fights, Justis Huni meets Kevin Lerena - best known for dropping Daniel Dubois three times before losing to the Briton in December 2022 - in a heavyweight bout, and Tyson Fury's brother Roman Fury competes in his fourth fight as a professional against Martin Svarc.

PREDICTIONS

Given how Ngannou performed against Fury, he will receive significant backing to repeat that display. The 37-year-old also brings an extra fear factor about him now that he has proven himself as more than just a gimmick.

On the flip side, though, that may just bring out the best in Joshua, even though the assumption that he has the ability to quickly knock out Ngannou is probably a wrong one.

Joshua is a bigger puncher than Fury, yet it still should not be ignored that Fury never significantly hurt Ngannou at any point across their 10-round fight.

The logical prediction is a Joshua points win with a far more conclusive performance, but do not be surprised if he has to come through some adversity to get the victory.

On the undercard, Parker could overcome Zhang on points, using his movement to great effect just like he did against Wilder, but the vastly experienced Vargas may have too much for Ball, this fight perhaps coming too soon for the Liverpudlian despite the manner of his triumph over Isaac Dogboe in November.

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