Adam Smith
Boxing commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

Francis Ngannou didn't know what hit him. People weren't talking Joshua's power enough in the build up.

Joshua settles in with jabs to the body and he's light on his feet, shifting from side to side.

Ngannou is down!

Joshua lands clean in the first round.

Image source, Getty Images

Michael Buffer is going through his usual pre-fight build-up.

Francis Ngannou gets the big talk up, despite only previously having one professional boxing match. He performed pretty well against Tyson Fury on that debut and does, of course, have a very impressive record in mixed martial arts.

Anthony Joshua's record is pretty top drawer too. An Olympic gold medallist and two-time heavyweight champion.

Introductions done and off we go...

Barry Jones
Former world champion on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think Joshua will get the stoppage late in the fight if he keeps his patience and his shape. Ngannou will be exhausted.

Heavyweight Joe Joyce: "It could go either way, it's a big fight. They're both powerful guys dedicated in training. It could be a double KO like the trailer. May the best man win, 50/50 fight for me."

Super-flyweight prospect Shannon Ryan: "My fight prediction is a ninth-round knockout by the main man himself, Anthony Joshua."

Lightweight world title contender Rhiannon Dixon: "I was really shocked at how well Francis Ngannou did in the Fury fight. Sometimes, when I've sparred MMA fighters, they don't box conventionally, it's quite difficult to figure them out. You get caught with these weird shots like a superman punch. But Joshua has made a lot of improvements so I think AJ will win. Maybe by stoppage."

Heavyweight Moses Itauma: "My initial thought was AJ would knock Francis out late but then I clocked onto his UFC fight and even his fight with Tyson fury, he gets caught big and doesn't move. I think AJ's experience and boxing IQ will prevail and it'll be a unanimous points victory."

Cruiserweight Viddal Riley: "AJ to win between rounds five and seven."

Steve Bunce
Boxing expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

That is the most serious I have ever seen Joshua look.

Anthony Joshua has opted for Skepta's 'I Spy'.

It's all white for his outfit as he steps into the ring and then kneels to say a prayer in the corner.

Joshua has cut a very serious figure throughout this fight week and it's no different right now as he stands steely-faced.

Francis Ngannou is on his way to the ring.

That ring attire must have cost a fair bob or two. He looks the part though in his pink and white robe with gold tassles.

He's picked 'God's plan' by Drake to play him out to the ring.

Image source, Getty Images

A year ago, Anthony Joshua would have laughed if a fight with Francis Ngannou had been suggested.

But, having watched the former UFC heavyweight champion knock down Tyson Fury, Joshua said yes.

Joshua said: "I would have laughed at them. Obviously, Saudi is big business, big boxing and that opportunity presented itself.

"After the fight with Fury I did my research and he's actually come from amateur pedigree.

"He travelled to France and found MMA at a later stage. He's come from a boxing background and people always think he has no boxing pedigree but he has.

"I realise that is not a gimmick. I realised the guy can fight."

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh

Ever the showman, Tyson Fury stole the show in fight week. Eddie Hearn says the WBC champion was causing mayhem at the house of Turki Alalshikh – the Saudi powerbroker in boxing – on Tuesday night.

Fury put it on Ngannou for suggesting he should have been awarded the decision in their close fight just five months ago. The pair clashed again at Thursday’s news conference.

Hearn says he wouldn’t be surprised if Fury – who will be ringside – will have some trick up his sleeve tonight. Always expect the unexpected with the Gypsy King.

Image source, Getty Images

WBC heavyweight champion, who beat Francis Ngannou by split decision four months ago, has been in Riyadh during fight week.

Fury has travelled across to Saudi Arabia to support his brother Roman, who earned a decision win over Martin Svarc earlier tonight, but he also loves to stir the pot and has been trying to get in the ear of both Ngannou and Anthony Joshua.

Ngannou got involved in some verbal sparring with Fury during Wednesday's news conference after the Gypsy King suggested the French Cameroonian "struggled" in their October bout.

"I had one win over [Fury] and I want one more," Ngannou said with a grin.

Fury shouted back that he would face him in the "octagon" - the UFC's trademark cage - to which Ngannou replied: "Your only chance is in a boxing ring, with boxing rules."

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh

It will be at least 03:30 local time and 00:30 GMT by the time the first bell rings. I've seen weary stewards slumped up on the floor and with their backs up against the wall. Some fans have left. Nearly everybody is yawning.

Heavyweight Otto Wallin: "I hope Joshua will come out aggressive again because then I think he will knock him out. We know Ngannou has power and if Joshua tries to play safe then he might get clipped. But I hope he is aggressive. If he knocks Ngannou out it makes me look better."

Heavyweight Zhilei Zhang: "AJ by knockout."

Heavyweight Joseph Parker: "I can't really call it. It's a tough one. Ngannou is a good friend of mine and AJ is very respectful and we do have chats here and there. It will be a good fight. May the best man win."

Retired world champion and boxing coach Anthony Crolla: "You know what I did last time, I made myself look very silly by saying Francis Ngannou had absolutely zero chance of never mind beating Tyson Fury or giving him a half decent fight and I ate humble pie. However, I think the shock element is not there now.

"I believe we'll see Anthony Joshua win inside five rounds. I think it'll be entertaining, he'll start fast and look to put Ngannou in his place. He won't have the same unpredictability and be underestimated like Fury did. AJ inside five."

Former world champion Hannah Rankin: "This is a dangerous fight for AJ as he has everything to lose but he has the better skillset and boxing brain so I think, as long as he keeps it long and doesn't get involved inside with Ngannou, he'll take the win."

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh

Boxing is in a strange place. Especially when you hear of fight announcements on a Youtuber-turned-boxer facing a 58-year-old hall of fame star.

But for anyone who considered Francis Ngannou as nothing more than a crossover star looking for a boxing payday, the ‘Predator’ silenced those critics by almost shocking the world against Tyson Fury four months ago.

The WBC ranking him in their top 10 following that performance may have been slightly odd, but boxing has and always will be Ngannou’s first love. He is not here to make up the numbers.

Image source, Anthony Joshua fan club

Fighting is in Anthony Joshua's "bloodline", according to his cousin Raymond Ajakaye, who lives in the Nigerian town of Sagamu that is the ancestral home of the Joshua family.

The town is expected to grind to a halt on Friday when hundreds of people will assemble to watch special screenings of the British boxer's heavyweight contest against Cameroon's Francis Ngannou - to cheer on the man they see as their own.

"It runs in the family, we're all tough people, from my grandad, my uncles and his dad," Ajakaye tells BBC Sport Africa.

"We fought through a lot. This is where I would think he got the [boxing] gift from."

Located near Lagos in south-west Nigeria, Sagamu has a population of around half a million people.

Like the country as a whole, that population skews towards the younger age range, meaning many youngsters have found inspiration in Joshua's family heritage and his success in the ring.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Just looking away from tonight's action briefly, Eddie Hearn says a third fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron will happen in 2024 and they have "got to try to find a way to make it happen".

Ireland's Taylor beat Cameron in November after losing to the English fighter six months earlier.

On social media on Tuesday, Cameron claimed the trilogy fight, which was set for Dublin in May, was off.

However, Hearn told BBC Sport: "If it's not in May, it will happen - and in 2024 as well."

"At the moment we haven't reached a deal," the Matchroom promoter said of discussions between the two fighters.

"We've got a number of plans for Katie Taylor that we're discussing. We're putting together a roadmap for the next couple of fights.

"I want her to fight Chantelle Cameron and she wants fight Chantelle Cameron."

British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley: "I think AJ will win. Whether it's a knockout or not I don't know because Ngannou is a very tough man.

"Yes, AJ is very strong and does punch very hard himself, but it is a bit of a different animal with someone like Ngannou who is used to taking elbows and knees to the head."

Middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz: "Anthony Joshua knocks him out in six to eight rounds. His correct fundamentals will come into play and his explosiveness will be too much for Ngannou."

Multiple-weight world champion Natasha Jonas: "I don't think we'll see a complacent Joshua. He'll be training 100% for the best of Ngannou and I think he wins by stoppage. That's a big ask, but I think he does it."

Kal Sajad
BBC Sport at Kingdom Arena, Riyadh

Anthony Joshua has been full of smiles for the majority of this week. Perhaps not so surprising when you read reports suggesting the Britain will earn up to $50m for the 10 round contest, with Ngannou taking home $10m.

In fact, most if not all fighters will earn career-high pay days in what is the latest example of the Saudi influence in boxing.