28 February 2023 , 12:03
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Deontay Wilder has revealed he is close to agreeing a two-fight deal to face former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
The 'Bronze Bomber' made his heavyweight return last year for the first time since losing his trilogy bout with Tyson Fury, by poleaxing Robert Helenius within one round. It was expected he would then face Andy Ruiz Jr for a mandatory shot at Fury's WBC title, but Wilder instead opted to call out ex-UFC heavyweight Ngannou.
Wilder proposed a two-fight deal to Ngannou on social media, which the Cameroon star publicly accepted given he is now free to negotiate other opportunities after leaving the UFC. The American was in Saudi Arabia this weekend to watch Tommy Fury's win over Jake Paul, and confirmed the pair could meet in both the Middle East and Africa.
"That is a real discussion," Wilder told reporters while at the boxing event. "We try to do a two-fight deal, one maybe here [Saudi Arabia] and the other one in Africa. I may be fighting between May and June, and then December." He later added that a number of high-profile fighters are in the running to receive the call for the summer.
He continued: “All fighters are a possibility. Ain’t nobody out, we’re having discussions with everybody, all the fighters, especially fighters at the top. Everybody in discussion so I want fighters to know that. Unfortunately the business of boxing is what it is, and sometimes it gets slow but when it gets moving, it gets to moving.
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"And right now it’s just a process of getting things in order, locations, dates, and opponents, and getting everything together. So that takes time but know that no fighter is safe.”
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There are a number of potential options on the table for Wilder including a mega-fight with Anthony Joshua which promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping to explore this year. These could now be easier to negotiate given the 37-year-old recently confirmed he is a free agent despite having previous ties to Premier Boxing Champions.
Ngannou could also be encouraged by that news, and his coach Eric Nickick has suggested that Wilder is currently the most intriguing boxing option for the hopeful debutant so far. “We spoke all last week on probably doing boxing first,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “That sounds like what he wants to do. We were talking about some different boxing trainers we might try to bring in, locations of where he might try to go, the opportunity to maybe fight Wilder. Anthony Joshua’s been a name.
“I’ve heard Tyson Fury. I’ve heard Andy Ruiz. I’ve heard all these different names kind of pop up. But the one that sounds like the most intriguing to Francis has been definitely the Wilder fight. So we’ll see how this transpires and what’s gonna happen, but I’m just glad to have him home and back in the gym.”