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Cameroon vs Nigeria - See why Hearn says it makes sense for Ngannou to fight Anthony Joshua.
Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou has been advised to fight British boxer of Nigerian descent Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou was stripped of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title by the organization's president Dana White.
Unable to reach an agreement with the UFC, Ngannou is now a combat sports free agent and has expressed interest in boxing.
Ngannou has called out the top names in the boxing heavyweight division such as Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, and Tyson Fury.
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Hearn on Ngannou vs Joshua
Eddie Hearn chairman of Matchroom boxing and Joshua's promoter has explained what Ngannou needs to do now he is out of the UFC.
According to Hearn, a fight against Joshua is the right way to go if Ngannou is serious about his boxing career.
In an interview on MMA Hours with Ariel Helwani, Hearn said he has reached out to Ngannou as regards a fight with Joshua.
He said, “We didn’t go too deeply into stuff, but I respect him greatly for the way he’s handled his career to a point where now he’s in a fantastic position.
“We’ll see what happens. For me, we would love to be involved with his career. The Anthony Joshua fight is probably among the biggest fights that can be made in any sport. Obviously the Tyson Fury fight is there for him as well.
“I was pretty captivated by him. I’m not a massive MMA fan, but I still respect what he’s achieved there. But I just found him to be an outstanding gentleman. We’ll see how it goes.”
Hearn then explained why Joshua us the right adversary for Ngannou to be welcomed into the boxing fold.
He added, “I mean, I think he should fight Anthony Joshua. I don’t see — this is another conversation I had with Nate Diaz’s guys.
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"These guys have a mountain to climb in terms of the challenge of fighting an elite boxer, but to go through the process of having two or three fights — one fight you might look bad because you’re learning, so the value really is the unknown.
“What happens when two titans from the world of fight sports collide? The UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou and the two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.
“The complete unknown. The unknown of how good is Francis Ngannou? We know he punches extremely hard, if he lands one on Anthony Joshua, is it the greatest upset of all time? Or will AJ completely steamroll him and you’ll see Francis Ngannou get knocked out? That’s the attraction of that fight, the unknown.
According to sources, Joshua is set to return to the ring against Jermaine Franklin in April and a potential fight against Ngannou will be scheduled for later in the year.
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