Deontay Wilder is open to the idea of a fight against Francis Ngannou. However, as the boxer noted, he needs to know PFL’s terms first regarding its “mixed rules” before pushing the fight.
PFL is interested in booking the fighter after Ngannou made a remarkable performance when he faced Tyson Fury in October. Despite losing via split decision, “The Predator” garnered an impressive reputation in boxing after giving the opponent a challenging bout. After this, without a current fight booked, Ngannou’s coach, Eric Nicksick, said the team is considering Wilder, whom they contacted before the Tyson fight. PFL also supports the idea of the two fighting, but for Wilder, some things should be clarified before making it official.
“I’d have to hear more about these mixed rules,” Wilder told Lucky Block (via DAZN). “I wouldn’t mind fighting in the [cage] and stuff, but I’d have to understand how the mixed rules are distributed. What do they mean [by] mixed rules? What can and can’t we do?
“But I know for sure, [if we did] one fight in boxing and then one MMA fight, the rules are what they are.
“We’ve got rules in boxing, we’ve got rules in mixed martial arts, but when you are mixing both together, now you have to come up with your own rules, and it can get kind of frustrating or confusing. But it could be something that’s new, and I’m all about change. I’d need to hear it, both parties would need to hear it, and go from there.”
For Ngannou, it doesn’t matter whether the fighter would be in the MMA cage or in a boxing ring. As the Cameroonian-French fighter believes, he can beat boxers inside the cage and also excel inside the boxing ring.
“The good thing is I’m the one that can go everywhere comfortably,” Ngannou said on the Club Shay Shay podcast earlier this month. “My comfort zone will be the octagon, but I’m going to the ring and putting them in a bad spot in the ring.
“Because I have my territory [in MMA] where they cannot mess with me. If they come, they will need something like some favor, like, ‘I’ll give you this, we’ll take kicks out.’ I have to give him something. But when we step in the ring, they don’t give me anything and I still get them in trouble.”
