Interim WBO world heavyweight boxing champion Zhang Zhilei has claimed that former UFC titleholder Francis Ngannou refused to share the ring with him on December 23 in Saudi Arabia.
According to the Chinese, his bout with the Cameroonian was supposed to be part of a big boxing event featuring big name boxers such as Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and Dmitry Bivol, however, “The Predator” declined the offer.
“Initially there were talks about my fight against Ngannou on December 23 and I agreed, I said, ‘Great, it’s a walk in the park for me – I’m in,'” Zhang told MailOnline. “But Ngannou didn’t want to do it. Later on, the card started to be filled with big names – Joshua, Wilder, Bivol. That’s how it worked out.”
On October 28, Francis Ngannou made his professional boxing debut, losing by split decision to the reigning WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on a ten round decision, knocking the Briton 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.
Zhang Zhilei won the interim WBO heavyweight championship belt in April of this year, defeating Joseph Joyce by technical knockout in the sixth round, and four months later knocked out the Briton in the third round, who exercised the right to an immediate rematch.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/33291-vremennyj-chempion-mira-po-boksu-obvinil-frensisa-ngannu-v-otkaze-ot-boya.html?rand=19907
