Following his impressive stoppage of Otto Wallin in December 2023, Anthony Joshua was linked with IBF number one ranked Filip Hrgović or WBO "interim" titleholder Zhilei Zhang.

The first of two world title bouts on the card saw Israil Madrimov stop Magomed Kurbanov to win the vacant WBA Super Welterweight belt.

After twice flooring the champion (once appearing to push him before handing a left hook) the bout was ruled a draw with scores of 116–110 for Ball, 114–112 for Vargas and 113–113.

[7] Joshua dominated the bout, knocking down Ngannou, who switched to southpaw, with a straight right hand (a punch often dubbed as the 'southpaw killer') down the pipe in the 1st round.

He again rose to his feet, but Joshua finished the fight with another right hand that left Ngannou flat on the canvas for several minutes afterwards.

before stating his desire for Joshua to face the winner of the planned May 18 bout between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.