Deontay Wilder wants fight Francis Ngannou under MMA rules says PFL founder Donn Davis

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The Professional Fighters League’s (PFL’s) founder, Donn Davis, revealed that Deontay Wilder will be pleased to fight Francis Ngannou in the octagon, following questions on which sport (boxing or MMA) the founder thought the new boxing sensation Francis Ngannou would compete in.

‘No idea, no idea, no idea,’ Davis replied initially. ‘Francis is making plans. I heard him on your show. He said he’s making decisions in the next two weeks. We know what he’s working on. I think there is a path of one of two ways: I think there’s a boxing path for him next, and I think there’s a mixed fight for him next.’

Cameroonian Francis Ngannou proved himself a worthy opponent for world-class heavyweight boxers by going through a competitive ten-round match with the most respectable heavyweight champion of the era, Britain’s Tyson Fury, even succeeding to strike the WBC champion down in the third round of his boxing debut.

The echoes of his spectacular and surprising performance have not died down since their taking place on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, before fans and pundits awaited the disgrace of the debutant, who was also an MMA professional.

‘I think the opponents in pure MMA are not that interesting right now,’ revealed Davis. ‘We’re just like the fans. We’re just like the fighters. We’re not like the other companies, ‘Oh, let’s just do it because there are guys.’ There’s only one name in MMA right now that’s interesting for Francis Ngannou – Jon Jones. One guy.

‘Everybody says, ‘What about Stipe [Miocic]?’ Maybe. I give him half a point. There’s 1.5 guys who are compelling.

‘I don’t want to say who can put on a good fight for him. There’s three or four other guys who can put on a competitive fight for Francis. I’m not talking about a competitive fight.

‘I’m saying compelling, 1.5 guys in the world, and one’s hurt for the next nine months and the other is under contract. We’re realists.’

The only fight fans of combat sports want to see now, though, is the Tyson Fury versus Francis Ngannou rematch. The former’s victory in the first bout is largely considered cheating carried out by the match’s judges.

Some, like former world champion Carl Froch, think Francis Ngannou won the match. Here is what Carl Froch said about the likelihood of Fury resigning in the wake of the disgraceful performance.

‘Tyson Fury will not retire on that back of that,’ predicted Froch. ‘He’s got to fight Ngannou in a rematch I think. And I think that has to happen before the Oleksandr Usyk fight … It’s all a bit messy and a bit sticky.’

An undisputed world heavyweight contest in loading for Fury and WBA, WBO, and IBF world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. The match holds the possibility of crowning an undisputed world heavyweight champion.

Carl Froch hoped the British champion would gather himself together and move on instead of retiring.

“I don’t think [retiring is] an option for him. Don’t get me wrong, if he’s gonna dwell on that loss – sorry, win – so much then retire, you can sort of see where his mental fragility is coming into play, but I sincerely hope that he’s right in the head. He seems all right, matter-of-fact, onto the next fight,’ discussed Froch.

‘But he can’t retire off the back of that fight with Ngannou,’ he continued. ‘He just can’t. It would be like me retiring on the back of the first George Groves fight. Although I still think [referee] Howard Foster did the correct thing when he stopped the right … the way it had been received, it felt like a loss.’

What remains in Francis Ngannou’s case is to wait and see what his next decision will be next week.