06 February 2023 , 18:58
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Francis Ngannou has picked out Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua as the three potential opponents for his boxing debut.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou, 36, refused to sign a new deal after his contract with the promotion expired in December, so he is a free agent. The Cameroonian snubbed a guaranteed $8million to defend his UFC title against Jon Jones and is hopeful that fights against boxing's top heavyweights will secure him a bigger payday.
'The Predator' hinted at his next fight by tweeting out a picture of Wilder, Fury and Joshua on Monday evening with the caption "decisions". Fans were quick to weigh in on his tweet, with one user telling Ngannou: "You’ll lose bro, these guys have trained all their lives, they’re disciplined in the sport." Another user replied: "You and Deontay would put on one of the best shows. The greatest MMA knockout artist against boxing’s greatest knockout artist."
Matchroom Boxing boss Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, recently opened talks with Ngannou over a potential fight against the Brit. Ngannou doesn't have a manager and spoke to Hearn on his own behalf, as the promoter told The MMA Hour: "I'm fascinated by people who have almost educated themselves to a point where you can have a conversation with a fighter like that, almost more productively than an agent or a lawyer.
"I reached out to Francis just to say, 'look, I'm getting all these approaches from people claiming to represent Francis Ngannou, just tell me who I need to speak to', and the answer was, 'me'. Obviously, the Tyson Fury fight is there for him as well. I think he should fight Anthony Joshua, these guys have a mountain to climb in terms of the challenge of fighting an elite boxer."
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Fury recently laid out his terms for a fight against Ngannou that involved facing each other in a cage with MMA gloves under Queensbury rules, even suggesting boxing legend Mike Tyson could serve as a special guest referee. Ngannou agreed to the terms Fury set out, reposting the interview clip on Twitter and signing off by writing: "What else? - Baddest Man on the Planet."
Ngannou has never competed in boxing but started out training in the sport before eventually being convinced to take up MMA by one his former coaches. The Cameroonian has been backed to compete against top heavyweight boxers such as Fury and Joshua by former opponent Curtis Blaydes despite his lack of experience in the ring.