Francis Ngannou reveals talks underway to box Deontay Wilder in Africa: “It’s an opportunity to do something massive”

Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is currently in talks to box Deontay Wilder.

‘The Predator’ walked out of the UFC in January, vacating his heavyweight gold in the process. Following his exit, the promotion set Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane for the vacant title. Last Saturday, ‘Bones’ defeated ‘Bon Gamin’ by first-round submission to win the gold.

Over the last few days, the newly crowned champion has taken time to blast Ngannou. Jones has stated that the former champion did everything he could to avoid the fight, and seemed to indicate that he ducked him. While those might be harsh comments, Ngannou has no interest in returning to the UFC for that fight.

Instead, as Francis Ngannou revealed in a recent interview with ESPN, he’s already working on his return. There, the former UFC champion stated that he’s currently in talks to box Deontay Wilder. Furthermore, the pair are eyeing the fight to take place in Africa.

‘The Bronze Bomber’ called out Ngannou last month, stating that the two should do a two-fight series, one in MMA, one in boxing. However, the news of Africa is certainly a new wrinkle to the story with Wilder and Ngannou.

(via Cooper Neil/Zuffa LLC)

“Yes we’ve been having some exchanges. We’ve basically come into some sort of verbal agreement that we want to fight each other.” Francis Ngannou revealed in the interview. “We want two fights. Maybe one of those fights in Africa, maybe two of those fights in Africa. Which would be massive, which would be great. I think August next year is the 50th anniversary of ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’ and I think that would be an opportunity to do something massive in Africa.”

He continued, “We are looking at something around that timeline for the potential second fight. Which, in my opinion, should still be in boxing… Boxing is a new challenge. But remember, at the beginning, MMA was just as challenging as boxing. If not bigger. So, I don’t back down from challenges.”

What do you make of this news? Do you want to see Francis Ngannou vs. Deontay Wilder? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!