Francis Ngannou lost to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but believes their potential showdown would make for a “great fight”.
The former UFC champion made his professional boxing debut against Fury, losing a highly-contentious split decision after flooring his man in the third round.
Indeed, Ngannou exceeded the majority of expectations while Fury, in equal measure, did not perform to his usual standard over 10 rounds.
He did, however, manage to produce a far more impressive display in his following outing, only to suffer another 10-8 round and, this time, lose a split decision to Oleksandr Usyk.
After losing their immediate rematch, too, Fury then decided to spend 16 months out of the ring before unanimously outpointing Arslanbek Makhmudov earlier this month.
Joshua, meanwhile, had defeated Ngannou far more emphatically – orchestrating a thunderous second-round finish – before suffering a fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois.
Since losing to Dubois in September 2024, ‘AJ’ has completed just one assignment, a sixth-round finish over Jake Paul last December, as he now looks to enter another fight before finally facing Fury.
With their all-British heavyweight clash slated for November, Ngannou has told several media outlets, including FightHype, that he believes both competitors are still of an “elite” standard.
“I think it’s a great fight. How it’s going to go? It’s the fight game – nobody knows what will happen.
“They are both elite fighters, but we all know how tricky Fury can be. He’s managed to be very hard to beat.”
Despite not giving a clear prediction, Ngannou’s effort to highlight Fury’s “tricky” style suggests that he could be leaning towards a ‘Gypsy King’ victory.
In any case, Joshua must now finalise a two-fight deal with Turki Alalshikh in order to collide with his long-time rival later this year.