According to the Brit’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, the Cameroonian is among the potential opponents, with one of whom the Brit will share the ring on March 9 in Riyadh.
“Right now we have three fights that we’re discussing and they don’t include Deontay Wilder,” Hearn told iFL TV. “Our ultimate goal, and we’ve said this before, is a fight with the winner of the Fury vs. Usik fight. That’s what we want.”
“As for the next fight, we have a fight with Filip Hrgovic, we have a fight with Francis Ngannou, which will be colossal, and there’s Zhang Zhilei, who we can fight as well.”
On December 23 at Boxing Night in Riyadh, Deontay Wilder lost twice to New Zealand’s Joseph Parker by unanimous decision after twelve rounds with scores of 120-108 and 118-111, while Anthony Joshua gave Otto Wallin a telling beating in the main event of the event, forcing the Swede’s corner to refuse to continue the fight after the fifth round.
Two months earlier, Francis Ngannou made his professional boxing debut, losing by split decision to reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on a ten-round decision, with the Brit knocking him down in the third round. After the fight, the World Boxing Council decided to include the Cameroonian in the official rankings, placing him at number ten in the heavyweight division.