Eddie Hearn reveals Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou 2 is likely already official: “Got to cash in”

According to Eddie Hearn, Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou will likely meet in the boxing ring again.

‘The Gypsy King’ and ‘The Predator’ faced off in October, in the first boxing match of Francis Ngannou’s combat sports career. Heading into the matchup, the PFL heavyweight was naturally, a major underdog. However, he shocked the combat sports world in Saudi Arabia, nearly upsetting Tyson Fury.

Francis Ngannou scored a rare knockdown of the Brit in round three and also cut him open. Ultimately, it was all for naught. After ten rounds of action, Tyson Fury emerged with a split-decision victory. In the process, he helped to keep his title unification with Oleksandr Usyk still alive. Although, the bout was later postponed from December to February.

Following the fight, Francis Ngannou became one of the biggest names in boxing. Furthermore, he entered talks with names such as Deontay Wilder and Zhilei Zhang. One name that the PFL heavyweight contender won’t be facing for sure is Anthony Joshua. ‘AJ’ publically dismissed the MMA fighter prior to his bout against Fury.

Thanks to that dismissal, Francis Ngannou has already shot down a fight with Joshua. However, Eddie Hearn believes that there’s a different reason why the heavyweights won’t clash. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the head of Matchroom Boxing offered an alternate theory.

There, Eddie Hearn alleged that Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury have already signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to fight again. According to the boxing promoter, the rematch will take place following the British boxer’s two-fight series with Oleksandr Usyk. As of now, the two are set to meet in February.

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Image via @eddiehearn on Instagram (photographer not listed)

“I reached out to Francis Ngannou’s team,” Eddie Hearn stated on The MMA Hour, discussing his attempt to make Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua. “Just to let you know, we’re up for discussing Francis Ngannou and ‘AJ’ fight. I never heard back from them. Probably, knowing the business, I would say that Fury and Ngannou [2] is probably agreed. For post Fury-Usyk, already.”

He continued, “Certainly if I’m Francis Ngnanou, there’s only three things I’m doing. I’m fighting ‘AJ’, I’m fighting Wilder, or Fury. He’ll feel like after that first fight that he can beat Fury. But, there’s no point [in fighting anyone else], he can really lose to anybody in the top 50 at heavyweight. So, you’ve got to cash in at this point. There’s really only three fights to cash in at the level that he wants.”

“I guess, Francis Ngannou will fight in the PFL, in Spring [or] Summer of 2024. Then, he’ll fight Tyson Fury at the end of this year. I would think that would be the mindset of the team.”

What do you make of these comments from Eddie Hearn? Do you want to see Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury 2?