EDDIE HEARN has revealed he approached Francis Ngannou about fighting Anthony Joshua – only to get BLANKED by the UFC legend.
The 37-year-old former UFC champion shocked the world as he climbed into the ring with boxing’s WBC title holder Tyson Fury in October.
He floored the Gypsy King in the third round of that crossover bout and continued to give the unbeaten star a difficult time throughout. Ngannou controversially suffered defeat via split decision after going the full ten rounds.
After his impressive display in the money-spinning Saudi Arabia showdown, Joshua’s Matchroom promoter claims he reached out to Ngannou. Hearn was keen on making another potential crossover match-up, but he never heard anything back, leading to him making AJ’s upcoming fight with Otto Wallin on December 23.
And the Brit says he thinks Ngannou will not step back into the ring until he gets a rematch with Fury – who will face WBO, IBF, IBO, WBA champ Oleksandr Usyk in an undisputed fight on February 17.
Hearn told The MMA Hour: “I reached out to Francis Ngannou’s team and I said, ‘Just to let you know, we’re up for discussing the Francis Ngannou-AJ fight.
“I never heard back from them. So I think probably, knowing the business, I would say that probably Fury-Ngannou is almost probably agreed for post Fury-Usyk already.”
Hearn continued: “[Ngannou will] feel like, after that first fight, he can beat Fury.
“But there’s no point [in boxing non-stars] — he can really lose to anybody in the top 50 at heavyweight.
“So you’ve got to cash in at this point, and there’s really only three fights that cash into the levels that he will want [Fury, Joshua or Deontay Wilder].
“So I’d guess, and you might know better, Francis Ngannou will fight in the PFL or wherever in spring, summer of 2024, and then he’ll fight Tyson Fury at the end of [2024].
“I would think that would be the mindset of the team.”
