Deontay Wilder Accepts Francis Ngannou’s Challenge And Throws Down One Of His Own: “Step In The Ring”

Does a fight between one-time (and perhaps he can be again) huge puncher Deontay Wilder and one-time (perhaps he can be again) serious threat to the best heavyweight boxers out there, Francis Ngannou, still hold appeal? Do fans still want to see what would happen if Wilder and Ngannou collided inside a ring, or has the much-talked-about fight passed its sell-by date?

Wilder’s Online Callout

Well, if what Wilder has just posted on social media is anything to go by, Wilder himself is still very much interested in taking a fight – a boxing match – with the MMA giant. Recently, Ngannou said that a battle between him and Wilder is “being worked on” and that it will happen soon. Now, Wilder has challenged Ngannou to “step in the ring.”

“Respect, but I’m ten toes down, no fear, no fold, no fake….Always ready, always solid. Step into the ring and you’ll see what that means,” Wilder posted on his Instagram account, with Ngannou attached.

Wilder, one win removed from that awful run that saw him lose to Joe Parker and then to Zhilei Zhang, who stopped the former WBC heavyweight champ with apparent ease, has been busy in the gym. While Ngannou, we know, is always in shape. So, could this potentially explosive, you-know-you’d-watch-it fight happen next year?

Wilder has no next fight set, that we know of, anyway, while Ngannou could always take another big MMA fight next if he wanted to. But is it time to “finally settle the debate,” as an Ngannou post read last week?

Maybe to you there is no debate, but plenty of fight fans – of boxing and of MMA – remain curious to see which puncher would win: Wilder or Ngannou.

Could a 2026 Fight Happen?

Again, let’s see if this showdown comes off sometime in 2026.

Wilder is currently 44-4-1(43), while as a pro boxer Ngannou is 0-2, but he did push Tyson Fury hard in what was his quite astonishing boxing debut.