Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou is causing its promoters to pull out all the stops.
On March 8, Joshua and Ngannou face off in a 10-round boxing match in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia in a bout being billed as “Knockout Chaos.” Promotion for the superfight has ramped up in recent weeks, and on Tuesday the latest trailer dropped, showing Joshua and Ngannou transforming into video game characters and punching each other a la Street Fighter. But now the powers that be have taken the next step: Releasing a video game for the impending fight.
On Wednesday, “Knockout Chaos” got its own website where fans can play a simple boxing game, choosing between Joshua or Ngannou, and then attempt to knock out their opponent. While the game is not even as advanced as Mike Tyson’s Punchout, it still shows a level of promotional investment rarely seen in the combat sport space these days.
Joshua is a the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in boxing and former unified heavyweight champion. He lost his titles to Oleksandr Usyk in a pair of fights in 2021 and 2022, but has since strung together three straight victories.
Ngannou is the former UFC heavyweight champion who left the promotion in 2023 to pursue other interests, namely boxing. He nearly shocked the world in his boxing debut, losing a contentious split decision to WBC champion Tyson Fury. Despite the loss, Ngannou still earned a top-10 ranking from the WBC.