Francis Ngannou may have felt hamstrung and marginalized in his final years with the UFC, but he is already looking like a hot commodity in boxing without having even ducked through the ropes.
The former UFC heavyweight champion became the subject of another intriguing hypothetical matchup when Deontay Wilder, the former WBC heavyweight champion, floated the idea of fighting Ngannou in a recent interview.
Wilder said he and Ngannou briefly chatted about possibly fighting each other last year, when they met for the first time at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. At the time Wilder was getting ready for his comeback fight against Robert Helenius, whom he wound up stopping in one round. Wilder noted that his preference for an Ngannou fight is to have it take place somewhere in Africa; Ngannou is of Cameroonian descent.
“I’m still interested in that fight,” Wilder said of Ngannou in an interview with Trill Boxing Talk. “You know I I would love to go to Africa for that. I would love to go to Africa.
“The whole saying is if it makes dollars it makes sense and that’s all they need to know,” Wilder added. “I know he’s doing his own thing and I’m proud of him for doing his own thing, for following his own heart.
“I’m very interested in it. If he want to do it and want to do a showdown and get some people some good fights, let’s do it man. I’d love to go over to the continent and do it. That gon’ be a Marvel fight right there. You got two big black superheroes and let’s just be nice. I’d love to do it. I think it would be great. It would feel good to do so.”
Ngannou recently left the UFC after he was unable to come to terms with the organization on a contract extension. Since his departure, he has spoken to boxing promoters, such as Eddie Hearn, about ways to pursue a crossover career in The Sweet Science. Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former champion Anthony Joshua have both been linked to Ngannou.
Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, went even further, saying that he would be willing to fight Ngannou in the octagon as well. Wilder suggested a two-fight deal with Ngannou in which one fight would take place under boxing rules, while the second one would be held according to mixed-martial-arts standards.
"I even thought about this idea," Wilder said. "I said, 'Alright, let's make it a two-fight deal.' Everybody always comes to boxing. Let's do this: You come to my sh!t; I'll come to yours. You know what I’m sayin’? You feel me? You come to my house, I come to yours. A true tea party. Bro, I'm a true warrior, I’m a true warrior.
“That’s even gonna bring more excitement, and I'm serious about that, too. That's something I thought about even since the first spark of the idea. I was like, you know what, I wanna do something different. Since everybody be doing this crossing between combat sports and the guys, the MMA guys, they always come to boxing. Of course, they ain’t got no standup game as far as boxing is concerned, so it will always be more favored on the boxer side because you in our territory. It’s like being in the water with sharks.”
Asked if he has any experience training in mixed martial arts, Wilder demurred, but insisted he would be open to learning.
“I know how to whoop an ass,” Wilder said. “I don’t have mixed martial arts experience but of course if that happens, of course, I’m gonna get training and stuff like that and go from there. I wouldn’t just go in not knowing nothing. ‘I did this in the streets.’ Hell, no. I’m smarter than that. If I’mma do it, I’m gonna put forth the effort to get the fans what they want to see."
Wilder (43-2-1, 42 KOs) is expected to return in the spring, possibly against former champion Andy Ruiz Jr.