After initially disagreeing with Francis Ngannou’s crossover bout with Tyson Fury, promoter Eddie Hearn has now shown interest in staging a fight between the former UFC superstar and Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou shocked the world by giving WBC Champion Fury one of his toughest fights to date, losing a close split-decision despite scoring a knockdown in the early rounds.
Now, ‘The Predator’ is hunting for another heavyweight before his move to the MMA promotion Professional Fighters League next year, and there are a host of willing opponents due to his mammoth pay-per-view draw. That includes a possible showdown with Joshua in a ‘Rumble In The Jungle 2’ clash, but also one Deontay Wilder.
Wilder has thrown his hat into the ring – or octagon – after his trainer announced that they had been training mixed-martial-arts during recent months and would be open to a mixed rules clash.
Speaking to Boxing Social, Hearn declared that Wilder should stick to the squared circle in fear that Ngannou could break his legs.
“It’s madness, have you seen his legs? If Ngannou kicks those legs, they will snap in two.
I think Wilder should stick to the boxing and I think he should just have a boxing fight, he hasn’t boxed for over a year. Hopefully that could be [against] AJ, or he may end up getting the fight with Ngannou, who knows?
We want to see Wilder back in the ring, not in the cage, because I’m not sure how that would go.”
Ngannou may just opt to stick to boxing and move up the WBC rankings after its president, Mauricio Sulaiman, announced that he would earn a spot in the top ten for his performance against Fury.