Eddie Hearn has detailed how the upcoming fight between Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua could directly impact the highly anticipated potential matchup between Tyson Fury and Joshua. Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight champion, made his professional boxing debut against Fury in October 2023, resulting in a closely contested non-title bout that saw Fury win by split decision. However, many felt that Ngannou deserved the judges’ decision.
Following Ngannou’s impressive performance in his boxing debut, he has been scheduled to fight Joshua in March 2024. Meanwhile, Fury, the lineal and WBC heavyweight champion, is set to face Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA (Super), WBO, IBF, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight champion, in a title unification clash in February 2024.
During an interview on The MMA Hour podcast, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, discussed the upcoming fight between Joshua and Ngannou and its potential implications for the Fury-Joshua matchup. Hearn explained that based on their contracts, Fury and Usyk would have to fight each other twice consecutively, regardless of the outcome of their first bout. However, he suggested that a win over Ngannou could position Joshua for a fight against Fury.
Hearn stated, Our plan is to probably go on and fight for the IBF world title. You know the entire world is going to say, ‘Give me ‘AJ’ against Tyson Fury.’ There’ll never be a bigger fight in the history of the sport, in my opinion. So, we’ll see.
While Ngannou recently parted ways with the UFC and signed with the PFL, he is expected to make his PFL debut this year. He expressed excitement for his upcoming boxing match against Joshua in a post on Instagram. Despite being seen as the underdog in the matchup, Ngannou has the potential to disrupt the possibility of a Fury-Joshua fight if he manages to defeat Joshua.
The fight between Ngannou and Joshua is scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, within three weeks of Fury’s bout against Usyk.
Overall, the outcome of the Joshua-Ngannou fight could have significant implications for the future of heavyweight boxing, potentially paving the way for the long-awaited Fury-Joshua matchup. Fans around the world eagerly await the results of these upcoming fights and the potential for a historic clash between two boxing giants.
