Francis Ngannou responds to Deontay Wilder: “I hope you’re a man of your word”

By Boxing News - 02/17/2023 - Comments

By Craig Daly: Francis Ngannou responded to Deontay Wilder’s interview today by saying he’s hoping he keeps his word about fighting him next.

There’s little doubt that Wilder will keep his word by taking the Ngannou fight because it involves far less risk than if he were to face one of the talented contenders like Joe Joyce, Andy Ruiz Jr, or Anthony Joshua and potentially suffer another knockout loss.

Ngannou, a  former UFC heavyweight champion, says he wants to fight Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) in a boxing match because that way, he can “keep his limbs.”

Wilder shouldn’t get his hopes up too much for the Ngannou fight because Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are also very interested in fighting him. Ngannou will likely choose the one that will pay him the most for a cash-out/bank heist-level fight.

It’s still too early to know which platform will show the Wilder vs. Ngannou clash, but one thing is certain, it’ll be on PPV, and the price won’t be low.

Hopefully, the event isn’t priced in the $100 per household region as we saw with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s fight against former UFC star Conor McGregor. That was a lot of money for a fight that failed to live up to expectations.

Fans will be furious if Wilder destroys Ngannou in a round or two because they’re going to be paying to see this circus-level fight, thinking it’s going to be competitive.

Ngannou, 34, doesn’t say why he’s in such a hurry to fight a top tier heavyweight because it would be wiser for the former MMA star to slowly build himself up to the level of fighting pro boxers like Wilder, Tyson Fury, and Anthony Joshua.

This is just about Ngannou lazily making quick money without working for the position, getting wiped out, and then disappearing either to retirement, if you want to call it that, or returning to the UFC world to resume competing in that sport.

Throwing Ngannou in with a killer like Wilder is the equivalent of taking a golfer or tennis player and putting a pair of gloves on them to be quickly annihilated. It’s not even sporting.

“It doesn’t matter if we do MMA first or boxing first. I’m letting Francis [Ngannou] choose what he wants to do,” said Deontay Wilder to 78SPORTSTV. “I made the offers, and everything is going good.