Eddie Hearn names Francis Ngannou as 1 of 3 possible opponents for Anthony Joshua’s next fight

Eddie Hearn has named Francis Ngannou as 1 of 3 possible opponents for Anthony Joshua’s next fight.

Anthony Joshua most recently defeated Otto Wallin at the ‘Day of Reckoning’ event this past December (see that here). The Brit’s record now sits at 27 wins and 3 losses. Of those 27 wins, 24 came by way of knockout.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is now looking to book Joshua’s first fight of 2024, which is said to be taking place in March.

Hearn, speaking with ‘IFL TV’ shared the following as to who Joshua’s next opponent might be, which included name dropping Francis Ngannou:

“Right now, we have three fights that we’re in discussions for. They’re all big. That doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder…Our aim, as we’ve discussed this, is to fight the winner of Fury versus Usyk. That is all we want to do.”

The Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk, billed as ‘Ring of Fire’, will take place on Saturday February 17th at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Continuing Hearn said (h/t MMANews):

“Obviously, there’s a Hrgović fight out there for the world heavyweight title. There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there, which would be absolutely colossal. There’s other heavyweights as well, the (Zhilei) Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensberry.”

Hrgovic, 31, also competed on the December card at the ‘Day of Reckoning’ defeating Mark de Mori in the first round to extend his unbeaten record as a professional fighter across 17 fights.

Zhilei Zhang is coming off the biggest win of his career after defeating Joe Joyce in their rematch last September.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou left the promotion in January of 2023 after a lengthy contract dispute.

Signing on with rival promotion, the PFL (Professional Fighters League), Ngannou also secured a boxing match with the WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury. It was Fury who came out the victor, via split decision, this past October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It was reported that Ngannou earned a $10 million payday for his performance against ‘The Gypsy King’.

Would you like to see an Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou boxing match in the near future?

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