Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou LIVE: The ‘Gypsy King’ is in the building in Saudi Arabia as he prepares to face ex-UFC heavyweight champion in Riyadh, as Joseph Parker, Martin Bakole and Moses Itauma get big stoppage wins to kickstart the undercard

Wardley tries a wild overhand right that whistles past Adeleye’s head. He looks into the crowd smiling after avoiding that one.

Both men are throwing punches with bad intentions, but neither has been hurt yet.

We told you earlier that Israel Adesanya has put big money on Ngannou tonight, and he has now been seen in the dressing room embracing the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Only around 90 minutes until main event time now.

A couple of good right hands at the end of the round for Wardley, but Adeleye is holding his own.

Very little to separate the two men after two rounds.

Adeleye lands a good right hand early on, but there’s not too much of note after that.

Both fighters swinging in punches in the final minute, but not a great deal landing yet.

The co-main event is just moments away, with both men now in the ring and the announcements underway.

Well here’s someone we probably didn’t expect to see!

Award-winning rapper Kanye West has just arrived for tonight’s main event

TNT Sports have been talking about Wardley dealing with a cut in the build-up that may have affected his sparring.

Let’s see if that plays a part in tonight’s contest which should be getting underway shortly.

It’s a British title fight between Fabio Wardley and David Adeleye that will finish the undercard.

Both men have been doing plenty of talking in the build-up, and it’s now time to back it up.

Lennox Lewis fully expects Tyson Fury to get the job done, and has just told TNT Sports he’s predicting a fifth-round knockout.

Mike Tyson is fully backing his man Francis Ngannou tonight.

Speaking to TNT Sports, he’s declared himself ‘very excited’ for tonight, and expects heavyweight boxing to have a new champion.

Frank Bruno was involved in some of British boxing’s biggest fights in the 1980s and 90s and is now at ringside to take in the undercard action ahead of Fury-Ngannou.

Lennox Lewis has also popped in to speak to TNT Sports. British heavyweight royalty in Riyadh tonight.

Dan Hardy has claimed Fury would have a better chance of beating Ngannou inside the Octagon than Ngannou has of beating Fury inside a boxing ring.

That is a huge claim to make just hours before Ngannou and Fury face each other inside the squared circle!

Fury arrived around half an hour ago, and Ngannou is now in the building.

He arrives with sunglasses on and looks the part. He appears in a relaxed mood, but that could all change when he is standing opposite Fury in a couple of hours.

When he lost to Joe Joyce last year, it was difficult to see where Parker went next.

But he has bounced back well this year, and delivered a ‘fantastic performance’, according to Carl Frampton.

Parker puts his foot on the gas and stops Kean with a peach of an uppercut!

He was just starting to find his rhythm, and Kean unravelled quickly.

Beautiful work from Parker there, and he has now had a couple of very good performances on the trot.

The main event is drawing nearer, and we have more sporting greats arriving for it.

Former world champions Ricky Hatton and Frank Bruno are in Riyadh, while Brazil’s World Cup winner Ronaldo is also in the building.

Both fighters letting their hands go in the first round.

Parker probably edges it with his jabs and a couple of quick combinations, but Kean landed enough to show he won’t just roll over.

Parker makes his way to the ring in a must-win fight for him if he is to get back into the title picture.

He takes on Canada’s Simon Kean tonight.

Joseph Parker is up next, and British fight fans have become very familiar with the Kiwi over the years.

Parker has fought in the UK on a number of occasions, losing to Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte and Joe Joyce, but he has beaten Tyson Fury’s cousin Hughie.

Former MMA star Dan Hardy is tipping Fury to get the job done, but has admitted he is not ruling Ngannou out completely, and has warned the Gypsy King against complacency.

Tyon Fury has arrived ahead of another huge night in his career.

He looks as calm as ever and will be a huge favourite when he gets in the ring in a few hours’ time.

That was a scarily good performance from Makhmudov and he thinks he is ready for anybody.

Hard to disagree with that based on what we’ve just seen.

I said Makhmudov could punch!

A total mismatch here as he sends Wright to the canvas inside the opening minute. Wright just about makes it back to his feet but then takes more heavy shots and the referee has no option but to jump in. 70 seconds and over!

Russia’s Arslanbek Makhmudov is up next, and he has won 16 of his 17 fights inside the distance. We could be in for another early finish here.

He faces America’s Junior Wright, who is a late-notice replacement.

It’s a who’s who of famous faces tonight.

We’ve already mentione that Cristiano Ronaldo and Conor McGregor will be at ringside, but we will also see Oleksandr Usyk, Manny Pacquiao, Lennox Lewis and more!

High praise from former world champion Carl Frampton, who believes Itauma can go right to the top of the heavyweight division.

Remember, he is still only 18 years old!

Itauma seemed to hurt Bernath with every shot, and he has just nonchalantly said in his post-fight interview ‘the power is there’.

We certainly saw that just then.

Itauma looks a huge prospect and he sends Bernath to the canvas straight away.

Bernath bravely gets back to his feet, but he is a sitting duck as Itauma tees off.

The referee mercifully jumps in to spare him any more punishment. That was over very quickly!

We briefly just lost audio on what is proving to be a difficult evening for TNT Sports so far.

It’s now time for Moses Itauma, the 18-year-old heavyweight sensation.

Itauma has looked mightily impressive in his short career so far, but is expected to get a tougher test tonight against Hungary’s Istvan Bernath.

We have live pictures again!

Should have some more live action very soon.

This is not a great start to the evening, with coverage still down.

We have been without pictures fro over 20 minutes now, but hopefully we will get a resolution soon.

Tyson Fury is the master of the mind games and has been playing them again this week, despite being largely respectful of Ngannou’s ability.

Mike Tyson does not expect Ngannou to be affected by the mind games, though, and has backed him to focus on the job in hand.

We have currently lost pictures and audio from Saudi Arabia, with TNT Sports’ coverage going down.

Hopefully it is just a small issue that will be fixed soon.

Ngannou has made a huge name for himself in recent years, and has chosen to splash out on cars.

The 37-year-old has a £421k Rolls Royce, and you suspect he will be able to add to his collection after he receives a career-high purse tonight.

Bakole is jubilant after his big win and was asked whether he wants to fight in Saudi Arabia again.

‘Of course!’ he replied. You suspect more big fights are on the way for Bakole after that win.

Not something you hear every day in Saudi Arabia I’m sure. We have bagpipes blaring out around the arena after Bakole’s win.

He deserves the tribute as well after an excellent display to stop Takam in such dominant fashion.

Total dominance from Bakole as he stops Takam in the fourth round.

Bakole, who fights out of Scotland, did the damage with vicious body shots, and then went upstairs to the head to leave Takam on wobbly legs.

A good stoppage from the referee, and that’s an excellent performance from Bakole.

If Fury comes through tonight unscathed he is expected to face Oleksandr Usyk on December 23.

The pair have traded verbal blows over the last 12 months, but were full of respect for one another when they came face-to-face yesterday.

Usyk will hope Fury has no issues tonight so he can finally get his shot at the Gypsy King.

This fight has started to spark into life. Bakole seemed to briefly hurt Takam at the start of the third, but Takam fought back to push his opponent to the ropes.

Bakole then begins to land heavy hooks in the final minute of the round but Takam just about holds on. Great action!

Fury has been meeting some sporting legend

s this week, including Cristiano Ronaldo.

When the pair came face-to-face on Friday, Fury hailed Ronaldo as the greatest footballer ever, snubbing Lionel Messi, who is set to win his eighth Ballon d’Or this week.

It’s Bakole on the front foot in the early stages using his jab to control the distance. Takam yet to throw much back to stop Bakole coming forward.

First up tonight we have Britain’s Martin Bakole against Carlos Takam.

Takam is a former world title challenger, having taken Anthony Joshua 10 rounds back in 2017, and should provide Bakole with a stern test tonight.

Mail Sport has started a new boxing podcast this week. We have ‘The Jab’ for fans to listen to ahead of tonight’s huge fight.

It is all heavyweights tonight in Riyadh, with TNT Sports’ coverage just getting underway.

The undercard will be starting very shortly.

Tyson Fury was named after Mike Tyson, but ‘Iron’ Mike will be in the opposite corner tonight.

Tyson is a big fan of Fury, but will be plotting his downfall in just a few hours’ time.

Chris Eubank Jr will be in attendance tonight and has confirmed he is on his way to the arena as we speak.

The 34-year-old could be in a huge fight himself soon enough, with talks currently ongoing for his grudge match with Conor Benn to be rearranged.

Tonight’s co-main event is an intriguing British heavyweight clash between Fabio Wardley and David Adeleye.

A rivalry has been brewing between the pair for some time now, but they will finally settle matters in the ring tonight before we move onto Fury-Ngannou.

Crossover fights are becoming more and more popular – we only had KSI-Tommy Fury a fortnight ago.

But not everyone is a fan of them. Olympic medallist Frazer Clarke has hit out at them, and believes former fighters would be ‘rolling in their graves’ at the current state of the sport.

Celebrities from across the globe have decided this is the fight to be at.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be in attendance at tonight’s fight, while Rio Ferdinand, the Brazilian Ronaldo and even rapper Eminem have also been spotted in Saudi.

Fury and Ngannou are expected in the ring at around 11pm tonight (UK time).

Stick with us throughout the evening, though, for an entertaining undercard with several Brits and Joseph Parker all in action.

There’s nothing like full support from close friends.

That’s exactly what Israel Adesanya has given Ngannou, as he has placed two separate bets on ‘The Predator’ to win tonight. The former UFC middleweight

champion is in line to take home upwards of £100,000 if he wins both bets.

Fury-Ngannou is proving to be the most popular fight of the year in terms of the celebrities it is attracting.

Conor McGregor is in town for the fight, while a number of boxing legends have also arrived in Riyadh over the last 24 hours.

Fury and Ngannou tipped the scales yesterday and the former came in five pounds heavier than his opponent.

Weighing in at 277lbs, just shy of 20 stone, Fury is nine pounds heavier than his last fight against Derek Chisora for tonight’s Saudi showdown.

It is hard not to feel pleased for Ngannou as he is set to get his biggest payday after coming from a humble background.

Mail Sport has taken a look at his remarkable story that has seen him go from walking six miles to school to becoming one of the biggest glo

bal stars in combat sports.

Welcome to our live coverage of Tyson Fury’s huge crossover boxing match against former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

We will bring you all the build-up to this evening’s card in Saudi Arabia, with the undercard due to get underway at 6pm.