‘We’re halfway’… Potential Francis Ngannou opponent claims crossover fight is a real possibility
The former UFC heavyweight champion is yet to announce his next move after making his return to MMA last October.
A boxing match between Ngannou and Deontay Wilder has seemingly been his preferred option having not stepped inside the ring since his loss to Anthony Joshua one year ago.
Whilst Ngannou has named other opponents like a potentially returning Wladimir Klitschko, there are other options on the table outside of the top heavyweight boxers.
Along with a second MMA fight with the PFL, the knockout artist has also spoken about the prospect of a crossover super fight with the ‘King of Kickboxing’.
Rico Verhoeven gives promising update on Francis Ngannou crossover fight
Francis Ngannou has already competed against the best heavyweights from boxing and MMA but what about one other ruleset.
Having held the GLORY heavyweight title for over a decade, Rico Verhoeven is one of the most dominant combat sports champions of all time.
With 12 successive title defenses and multiple tournament and Grand Prix wins, the 35-year-old is a legend of his sport but he needs new and exciting challenges.
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GLORY recently announced a 32-man ‘Last Heavyweight Standing’ tournament that will take place throughout the year but Verhoeven’s name was left off of the roster.
Whilst he could still enter the tournament at a later stage or be saving himself to fight the winner, this could also point to the promotion trying to put something special together for the champion.
Both Francis Ngannou and Verhoeven have spoken in the past about the idea of some form of crossover bout that could take place under a boxing ruleset.
By having both men step outside of the ruleset that they’re known for, it could allow them to meet in the middle for a first of its kind showdown.
Verhoeven recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show where he gave the latest update on the fight.
“It’s 100% on the radar and I recently saw an interview with Francis that it’s also on his radar and he’s also interested in that fight so yeah. There are a lot of talks going on and I’m excited for it because I think it’s a huge challenge and it’s something new, something different, something we haven’t seen before. We’ve seen boxers and MMA guys versus each other but I think we are way more aligned than the other guys so I’m excited for this challenge.”
Of course, talks doesn’t necessarily guarantee that anything will come of this but Verhoeven is confident and there does appear to be more to this than just fantasy matchmaking.
“We’re in talks with different organizations, like Marshall (Zelaznik) said, there are different people that showed interest in a fight like this so let’s say we’re halfway. I’m always very positive so let’s say we’re halfway and that’s of course always the beginning, that people are interested and they want to see a fight like this and that’s what is going on.”
Rico Verhoeven may not be a household name around the world but the matchup would be fascinating
There’s no denying that a fight against one of the top heavyweight boxers in the world would do more for Francis Ngannou in terms of both the interest and money that it would generate.
However, having him step into the ring for a boxing match with Rico Verhoeven, as the Dutchman said himself, would offer the fans something they haven’t seen before.
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Verhoeven is no stranger to facing big and powerful knockout artists but his technical ability and resilience has seen him overcome each and every test during his reign as the champion.
Given Ngannou’s performance against Tyson Fury, he can’t be ruled out inside of a boxing ring and whilst the GLORY champion has faced some knockout artists in his time, there’s big punchers and then there’s Francis Ngannou.
