WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte and UFC heavyweight star Francis Ngannou will meet in a special ePress conference at 7pm (BST) on Saturday (May 30) on Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel.
Eddie Hearn will host the fifth edition of the ‘Rivals’ series, revealing that there is huge demand for an explosive battle between two big-hitters from different codes. The promoter is planning on holding talks with UFC boss Dana White with a view to putting on the fight at the back end of 2020.
Whyte is currently training for his rescheduled clash with Russian Alexander Povetkin that is due to conclude Matchroom Boxing’s groundbreaking ‘Fight Camp’ this summer, but ‘The Body Snatcher’ could then turn his attention to a fight with Ngannou.
Ngannou is the No.2 ranked contender in the UFC and the 33-year-old’s mettle has already been tested inside the boxing ring by unbeaten contender Joe Joyce when they shared eight rounds of sparring in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“Whoever wants it, can get it,” said Whyte. “We can do two fights, one in the ring and one in the cage. We’ve both got power, we’re both in our prime and one punch can end it. I want to get it on and rock the world.”
Photo and main image: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing.
“People have been talking about this potential fight for months now,” said Ngannou. “This makes sense down the line, me and Dillian are going to cross paths. I don’t back down from a challenge.”
Hearn added: “Dana loves great fights, so I’ll try to make this happen. This isn’t a gimmick, this is two of the best and baddest in the world. Whyte vs Ngannou would be huge.”