Francis Ngannou targets boxing return, possible Deontay Wilder matchup next
02/14/2025 02:00 PM
Francis Ngannou certainly has options when it comes to his fighting career, but the former UFC heavyweight champ and current PFL Superfight champ says a return to the boxing ring is imminent.
"I will do boxing next," Ngannou told Sportsbook Review. "I want to. I'm not done with boxing. It's not the MMA is easy. It's the sport that I understand better and I have more experience in, but I say go for boxing."
"The Predator" recently returned to MMA for the first time since his final UFC title defense against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022, where he destroyed Renan Ferreira in the first round at PFL Battle of the Giants. Ngannou made the choice to leave the UFC for the PFL in early 2023, then competed twice in the boxing ring — losing a razor-close decision to Tyson Fury in October 2023, then a brutal knockout loss to Anthony Joshua five months later.
Ngannou relishes the opportunity to test himself against the best boxers in the heavyweight division, and believes Wilder presents a very dangerous challenge — one he feels he offers to Wilder, as well. That's one of the biggest reasons Ngannou wants the matchup.
"Because there's an 80 percent chance that somebody will go to sleep," Ngannou said. "It will be one or the other. ...
""Maybe not in his past two fights, but Deontay Wilder is known as a guy that knocks everybody out or tries to knock you out. I'm going against that guy, and I myself can knock someone out. Deep inside me there is a little bit of ego, like I know I hit harder.
"I'm saying from my experience that we will have that ego that we both want to prove 'no, it's me.' 'Who is the biggest hitter between you and Deontay?' Those sorts of conversations are popping around a little bit, and even though you think you don't care about it, it sticks somewhere in your mind."
