Francis Ngannou is already looking past his next fight against Anthony Joshua on March 8th towards a match against the powerful former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, whose career is in bad shape right now following his lopsided loss to Joseph Parker last December.
Joshua On The Horizon
It might be a good idea for Ngannou (0-1) to wait until he deals with Joshua (27-3, 24 KOs) in their March 8th fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before he goes looking beyond him toward a match with the fading Wilder, who some feel was ruined from his three fights with Tyson Fury.
If Ngannou defeats Joshua, he’ll fight the Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk winner for the undisputed championship unless the crafty promoter Eddie Hearn convinces him to take an immediate rematch with AJ.
It wouldn’t be surprising if there’s a rematch clause in the Joshua vs. Ngannou fight that the boxing public doesn’t know about, even though it’s not a world title contest.
Ngannou hasn’t given up on the 38-year-old Wilder (43-3-1, 42 KOs) and hopes he can put things together so they can fight. However, Wilder has no fights scheduled, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to the ring if he does.
If Ngannou keeps talking up the idea of facing Wilder, it’s likely the Bronze Bomber will sit and wait for that match rather than risk getting beaten again on one of the Saudi’s cards.
His Excellency, Turki Alalshikh, recently said he wants to see Deontay come back, and he’ll likely offer him to fight in one of his events. Wilder has to fight a live opponent if he’s going to be included, as he’s not going to be given a gimme as we saw with Joshua being fed, Otto Wallin. Wilder isn’t that kind of a star to be allowed to fight chop liver.
Wilder: The Unfinished Business
“I’m here for the boxing career, and there, I have a lot of challenges and a lot of names. For example, the top three guys I’ve always had are Fury, Joshua, and Wilder,” Francis Ngannou said to Sky Sports’ MMA Club.
“Wilder better get it together because I’m not done; I want that name on my record. Two months ago, we were talking about fighting Deontay Wilder in the PFL. The landscape can change quickly. Everything is possible,” said Ngannou.