Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn says he’s planning stages to put together a massive fight between Francis Ngannou & Anthony Joshua next in Africa, viewing it as Rumble in the Jungle II.
Hearn says that the winner of the fight would take on the Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk winner for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
It’s a fight for Joshua (26-3, 23 KOs) that would revitalize his career, which has gone downhill since 2019. Hearn Joshua beating Ngannou quite easily, predicting a stoppage with six rounds.
Boxing fans on social media are picking Ngannou to blast Joshua out and end what’s left of his career, sending him into retirement from a brutal knockout loss. They see the shots that Ngannou hurt Tyson Fury with last weekend would destroy Joshua.
If Hearn can put together a fight between Joshua & Ngannou, that would be a massive accomplishment because the former UFC heavyweight champion has a lot of potential compelling fights, one of which is against Deontay Wilder.
Ngannou lost a controversial ten round split decision to heavyweight lineal champion Fury last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a fight that most fans saw Francis winning.
“What you have to do now is rematch Tyson Fury or fight Anthony Joshua,” said Eddie Hearn to Ariel Helwani’s YouTube channel about his planning for a Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua fight. “If Usyk has to fight Tyson Fury, and I believe he will, then AJ against Francis Ngannou, and the winner fights the winner of the other fight [Fury-Usyk].
“If Francis Ngannou beats Tyson Fury, and I already did but whatever, and beats Anthony Joshua, he should fight for the world heavyweight title in two fights. So that way, you’re getting the credibility.”
Hearn is going to have to act quickly if he wants to make the fight with Ngannou, because just talking about it like he did nonstop about the Joshua-Wilder contest, which never happened, won’t get the job done.
“AJ against Francis Ngannou is absolutely massive, it’s massive,” said Hearn. “Two giants next to each other. Who knows what’s going to happen? I can’t even believe we’re debating this on Monday morning. Fair play to your boy; he pulled it out of the bag,” said Hearn about Ngannou beating Fury.
“The money for Francis Ngannou in boxing, he ain’t going back [to MMA]. The money that I know AJ against Ngannou could generate. A lot more than he got on Saturday.
“In boxing, because AJ is a superstar, and Wilder is a solid name and a big name in America because of the Fury fights. You’re talking about a guy [Joshua] that is a two-time heavyweight champion, a guy that has endorsement deals and broadcast deals all over the world. It’s a monstrous fight.
“He [Joshua] wasn’t interested in the gimmick fight when it was proposed to him,” said Hearn about Johsua having turned down a fight with Ngannou in the past. “A lot of people’s perception pre-fight last Saturday was that fight [Fury vs. Ngannou] was farcical.
“We are now in the position where we’re debating if Francis Ngannou beats Anthony Joshua. Take my money, prove me wrong, and listen, he can punch, there’s no doubt. Fury’s resistance, I don’t think it what it was. It was a good shot at the top of the head, but nothing major.
“Take my money, and I will show you what happens when Anthony Joshua fights Francis Ngannou. I said three rounds last Saturday, but I’ll be generous and say six rounds [for Joshua to beat Ngannou].
“I think it was an easy fight for Anthony Joshua, but he just beat Tyson Fury. So, I don’t really know what to say. The little things that Fury does that works with 99% of the boxers, just didn’t work with Francis Ngannou. The feints, the traps that he was setting.
“I got to give him respect because he [Ngannou] took a few shorts early in the fight, and he seemed to take them well, a good chin. It was a close fight. I felt he won the fight by one or two rounds, but still.
“If he won, which he should have done, it’s the greatest victory in the history of the sport. Tyson is going to find it difficult for the next few weeks because it’s going to be on top of him, and he doesn’t like that. He doesn’t like the criticism. He’ll probably take a break from social media and say, ‘I’m going to slip away and child, family time and Christmas.’
“But it will hurt him, the criticism because it’s massively tainted his legacy. I messaged Turkey after the fight, saying, ‘This is the biggest fight in boxing, AJ vs. Ngannou right now.’ In terms of available fights. I think Fury-Ngannou 2 is a massive fight, but don’t forget the press release we saw. Fury-Usyk signed.
“Usyk ain’t stepping away at this stage with the money he’s getting for the fight. If it’s AJ-Ngannou and Ngannou, in your opinion, wins that comfortably, then he fights the winner of Usyk-Fury, no problem. So everybody wins,” said Hearn.
