Deontay Wilder is open to lacing up the gloves against Francis Ngannou next.
Wilder is currently rehabbing arm and shoulder injuries, which he suffered in back-to-back losses to Joseph Parker and most recently Zhilei Zhang by TKO in June. PFL heavyweight superfights champion Ngannou has previously angled for a fight against Wilder, and “The Bronze Bomber” had nothing but respect when addressing a potential matchup.
“Ever since I’ve been off, there’s been a lot of offers coming in, a lot of different countries, even with Francis,” Wilder told TMZ. “What’s up, brother? I hope everything is going good for you, man. I’m sorry for your loss.
“I can only imagine what it’s like to lose a child, man. I never hope to even feel that feeling of it. I hope life is going beautifully for you, bro. That’s a conversation I’m still looking to get in there in the mix and talk about.”
Ngannou’s two boxing appearances have gone drastically different. After knocking down Tyson Fury and pushing him to the brink in a controversial decision loss in October 2023, “The Predator” was finished by Anthony Joshua in a Round 2 knockout loss in March.
But despite Ngannou’s brutal loss to Joshua, Wilder isn’t dismissing him as an opponent.
“Any fight is competitive,” Wilder said. “You’ve got a man who’s got two hands and two feet, and got a heart, that will to win. You’ve got competition, you’ve got a fight on your hands. So that’s why, when you get in the ring, you respect every man that steps in there because you never know what he may bring to the fight.”
