Francis Ngannou's next boxing opponent named by financier who paid him millions to fight Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua
12/04/2024 06:08 AM
Francis Ngannou could return to boxing in 2025.
The MMA legend impressed many when he crossed over to the squared circle and dropped Tyson Fury during his debut in the sport last year.
A controversial split decision defeat against one of the best paved the way for Francis Ngannou vs Anthony Joshua, which ended in a sickening second-round knockout loss for the boxing novice.
Francis Ngannou's boxing career appeared to be over when he returned to MMA and became the inaugural PFL super fights heavyweight champion by quickly knocking out Renan Ferreira in October.
What's next for Francis Ngannou?
There seems to be a distinct lack of viable opponents for Francis Ngannou in the PFL, besides the recent $1million heavyweight tournament winner Denis Goltsov.
Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh has suggested that the Cameroonian knockout artist’s next fight could be in boxing against former WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
First, he wants to check 'The Bronze Bomber' is fight-ready after suffering shock defeats in back-to-back fights against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
“I need to sit with Wilder [for] two minutes to see his condition," Alalshikh told DAZN on Tuesday.
"I can catch it from two minutes [and check] if he’s ready or not. I don’t want to waste time and money anymore. I need to check first if he’s still got it.
“Francis will come to me in December to watch the [Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury] rematch. We have a lot of business together.
"Yes, I have on the table two options for Francis. One in MMA and one in boxing I want to discuss with him."
Turki Alalshikh wants to make a cross-promotion fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones but accepts that could be tough with UFC CEO Dana White against the idea.
He added: "The MMA [fight], you know all the time, my answer is we want to do the biggest things… We need to send Dana White to the moon [laughs]."
Michael Bisping rules out UFC-PFL co-promotion
UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping seriously doubts Ngannou vs Jones will ever happen.
The former middleweight champion turned MMA commentator believes his bosses stand to gain nothing from cross-promoting with their biggest rival
"I don't think it's gonna happen," Bisping said during an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow.
“Why? I understand that money talks, and you never know, maybe some gigantic amount of money appears from one of the parties in Saudia Arabia and maybe that gets the deal done.
"In terms of business, if it [the UFC] was my organization that I'd built for 30 years, that this sport was founded upon, and then you've got PFL out there…
"I'm just saying if it was my business, who stands to gain more there? Who stands to gain? The PFL. The PFL then are held in the same regard as the UFC.
"Yeah, it would be an amazing fight, and we all want to see it. Of course we do, we all want to see the best fight the best.
"But if I was running the UFC I'd be like, 'No chance! We tried to make that fight. We offered him a ton of money and he didn't want to do it. It's a shame'. I wouldn't cross-promote right now."
