Eddie Hearn details the moment that made Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou fight possible
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is set to feature in his second professional boxing fight in March, against former boxing champion Anthony Joshua.
Joshua, who was previously not interested in a non-title fight, changed his mind after Ngannou's impressive debut against lineal champion Tyson Fury. His promoter Eddie Hearn revealed in an interview with Ariel Helwani that Joshua's victory against Otto Wallin substantiated his interest in fighting 'The Predator'.
“Do you know what? Honestly, previously to the Fury fight – it wasn’t a fight that he was interested in, you know. Obviously, we just boxed a guy in Otto Wallin that really gave Fury a really tough time. Cut him, I think he had 48 stitches, the fight should have been stopped. Otto Wallin should have won that fight but it is what it is. And AJ went out and it was a mismatch, he demolished him. And I believe we’re going to do the same here. So that performance over Tyson Fury, of course. But you know that was really the point, the moment that made this fight credible."
Hearn also commented on Ngannou's potential as a boxer and the threat he poses to Joshua.
"And I feel like he beat Tyson Fury, if he didn’t it was around either way. So you can’t really say that he’s not a credible opponent. I heard Carl Froch say, ‘This is just a cash grab’. No, this is a dangerous fight, like AJ actually has a lot to lose here. Coming off the Wallin fight, he is in a wonderful position to go and fight for the IBF world title which we hope will happen after... But it’s kind of like there’s a lot of jeopardy in this fight... If you lose to Francis… It’s not a great look losing to Francis Ngannou.”
Check out his comments below (8:14):
Former UFC champion calls for Francis Ngannou to return for UFC 300
Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold wants to see Francis Ngannou return for the historic UFC 300 card.
Rockhold pitched a heavyweight clash between champion Jon Jones and Ngannou for UFC 300, citing that Ngannou was the "baddest man" in the world. The two heavyweights still disagree on why they didn't match up against each other, but Jones' return and championship success marginally preceded Ngannou's exit from the UFC.
Luke Rockhold said:
"UFC 300? It would be Francis [Ngannou] and Jon Jones. I would f**king bring back Francis. He can fight anybody, really. If that's the number-one man in the game, that's the real heavyweight. If you're gonna do 300, you want the baddest man on the f**king planet, and that's Francis Ngannou. So, nothing else matters."
Check out his comments below (7:20):