Anthony Joshua Cross-combat Fight – Ngannou is now a free agent because he quit the UFC without giving up his belt when talks to extend his deal broke down. And the Cameroonian is hoping to make a lot of money by switching to boxing, where he has been linked to some of the best fighters in the world. Joshua is one of them. In his first fight back after getting a new manager, Derrick James, he beat Jermaine Franklin on points.
Hearn said to The MMA Hour: “People would give fighters a much better chance against AJ having watched that performance. In your world, that translates to Francis Ngannou. And why not? “I don’t feel like it’s a fight that’s going to continue the development of Anthony Joshua under his new trainer, but I’d done lunch with Francis Ngannou. You know his story.
“I was completely gobsmacked by the story of this man. We sat for two hours, and I was just listening to just the most remarkable — I mean, how this isn’t a film, I have no idea. “Unbelievable. I’m thinking, ‘Please let me go to Hollywood now with you and sell this film.’ “People need to be educated about what that man has been through, and his story to get to where he’s got to. “I found him fascinating. Lovely guy, lovely guy, and I’d love to do something.”
Ngannou, who is 36, was poor in his home country before he moved to France to become a fighter. Since it was easier for the heavyweight to find fights in MMA than in boxing, he switched to sports and was later signed by the UFC. Ngannou went on to win the UFC title in 2021. He defended it once before leaving the company and giving up the title.
Tyson Fury, who is 34, and Deontay Wilder, who is 37, are two other fighting stars who could take the place of the African star. Hearn also said that Ngannou has a chance when he moves from the cage to the ring. He said: “You cannot in a million years, with Francis Ngannou’s ability in boxing and pedigree in boxing, go in and compete technically, skill-wise.
“Not just with AJ but with any top-20 heavyweight in the world. But in that division, the difference is what you can do is you could knock someone out. “So it doesn’t matter whether Francis fights Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury — I agree with you, horrible fight for Francis Ngannou because he’d he just poke him around — Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, Derek Chisora, Jermaine Franklin. “He has no chance against those guys, other than to be aggressive, trade up, and catch someone clean and take him out.”
Photo credit – Rex
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