BOXING fans were left raging at the delaying of Anthony Joshua’s ring return against Francis Ngannou.
Former two-time unified heavyweight champion AJ was set to lock horns with the ex-UFC titleholder late on Friday night in Saudi Arabia.
GettyAnthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou were set to throw down at 11:20pm BST time[/caption]
ReutersBut the co-main event between Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang hadn’t even started by the time 11pm rolled around[/caption]
The eagerly-anticipated crossover clash was set to get underway at 11:20pm BST time (2:20am local time).
But the co-main event between Zhilei Zhang and former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker hadn’t even got underway by the time 11pm rolled around.
And fight fans around the world were far from happy with the delay to proceedings, with one saying: “Run time on this card is taking the piss, hurry up!”
Another said: “[The] amount of time between fights is a joke here.”
And another said: “Birds will be chirping by the time Joshua and Ngannou are in the ring.”
One remarked: “Joshua vs Ngannou won’t be doing their ring walks until at least 3 AM local time in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.”
“Wild. Hard for fans to keep energy and excitement when you have been there for 8+ hours and it’s that late.”
Another chimed in: “The main event isn’t even gunna be on at prime time in either of the key boxing markets in UK and US.
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“And it’s not even prime time in Saudi. What’s the point?”
One fight fan asked: “Who’s in charge of this timekeeping in Saudi then?”
An MMA fan tuning in to see if Ngannou can shock the world again raged: “The UFC is elite when it comes to the flow of the fight cards.
“Because how am i spending more time waiting for this fight than I do working a 9-5.”
Another branded the event a “f***ing shambles.”
Joshua, 34, enters his crossover clash with Ngannou on the back of consecutive wins over wins over Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin.
Ngannou, meanwhile, enters his second professional boxing match on the back of a split-decision defeat to Tyson Fury last October.
GettyAnthony Joshua has won his last three fights on the bounce[/caption]