Deontay Wilder, the former WBC champion, has expressed interest in fighting the former UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou, putting The Predator extremely close to starting his professional boxing career.
Francis, who left the Ultimate Fighting Championship earlier in January after being unable to come to terms with the UFC president, has announced some of his plans for the future, which include his interest in trying boxing professionally.
Francis had intended to confront Tyson Fury, but according to Eric Nicksick, head coach of Ngannou, they have kept other options open in case they are unable to promptly come to terms with The Gypsy King.
One of the boxers under consideration for Ngannou’s boxing debut is Deontay Wilder. In a recent interview in Riyadh, The Bronze Bomber also expressed his keen desire to make a two-fight deal with the former UFC heavyweight champion.
“That is a real discussion. We try to do a two-fight deal, one maybe here [Saudi Arabia] and the other one in Africa. I may be fighting between May and June, and then December. And right now it’s just a process of getting things in order, locations, dates, and opponents, and getting everything together. So that takes time but know that no fighter is safe.” said Wilder.
Deontay Wilder challenges Francis Ngannou to go back-to-back in boxing and MMA 😳
Full story: https://t.co/YS9Z23F3hl pic.twitter.com/HBKSPEV4A7
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 9, 2023
The American boxer, who is yet to book a fight since his victory over Robert Helenius, is looking for an opponent to get back in the ring. The 37-year-old expresses that all fighters are a possibility and nobody is out of their consideration. According to the Alabama native, they are having discussions with all the fighters, especially the ones at the top.
”Everybody in discussion so I want fighters to know that. Unfortunately the business of boxing is what it is, and sometimes it gets slow but when it gets moving, it gets to moving.” Wilder further added.
Francis Ngannou veut combattre Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury ou Anthony Joshua. #Cameroon 🇨🇲 pic.twitter.com/RE865vMqEh
— The Cameroonian 🇨🇲 (@TheCameroonianZ) February 6, 2023
However, the head coach of the Predator listed a few more candidates as possible opponents for Ngannou. These names include Andy Ruiz and Anthony Joshua but, Deontay Wilder is the most likely candidate at the moment.
