Francis Ngannou’s team had earlier plans targeting Deontay Wilder despite Anthony Joshua expressing the same interest in fighting the MMA star. However, with Wilder’s recent loss, things are expected to change. Fortunately for Ngannou, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said he’s one of the options the promotion is considering now for Joshua’s next bout.
Ngannou made a mark in the boxing world after facing Tyson Fury. Despite losing via a split decision in October, “The Predator” garnered an impressive reputation in the boxing industry after giving the opponent a challenging bout. After this, different names expressed interest in the Cameroonian-French fighter, including Joshua, who said he would give the former UFC champ a knockout when they fight. Ngannou, however, downplayed Joshua’s threats.
“Even Tyson Fury said the same thing and Tyson Fury is better than Anthony Joshua,” Ngannou said in December. “What do I care about what people say?
“I’ve been in this game for so long. I’ve seen so much. I’ve heard so much what people intend to do. There’s a difference between wanting to do and be able to do.”
In line with this, the fighter’s coach, Eric Nicksick, revealed that his team had talks with Wilder, suggesting the plan is to have the boxer as the Ngannou’s next opponent. However, the American boxer encountered a huge loss to Joseph Parker in Riyadh last month, which translated to Ngannou’s plan derailment for his next boxing match. As such, the MMA fighter’s team will likely resort to Joshua, who defeated Otto Wallin last month.
Luckily, despite Ngannou’s initial lack of interest in Joshua, Hearn revealed that the company included the PFL superstar on the list of Joshua’s next possible opponents. According to Hearn, Ngannou joins the names of former WBC and IBF International title holder Filip Hrgović and current WBO interim heavyweight champ Zhilei Zhang.
“Right now, we have three fights that we’re in discussions for. They’re all big,” Hearn told iFL TV during an interview. “That doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder… Our aim, and we’ve discussed this, is to fight the winner of Fury versus Usyk. That is all we want to do.
“Obviously, there’s a Hrgović fight out there for the world heavyweight title. There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there, which would be absolutely colossal,” Hearn continued. “There’s other heavyweights as well, the Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensberry.”
