Francis Ngannou has been warned he will struggle to follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor when he switches from UFC to boxing.
Ngannou has stated his boxing ambitions for several months and plotted launching a career in the sport alongside defences of his UFC heavyweight title. However, the Cameroon star was unable to negotiate while tied down to a contract with the MMA promotion and, after a lengthy dispute, the heavyweight has vacated his belt and made his exit.
Now Ngannou is a free fighter without a contract to any promoter, he is eyeing a revival of a potential boxing clash with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Several fighters have tried to cross over from UFC to the squared circle, but none were more successful than McGregor, who generated huge earnings from his entertaining defeat by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in 2017.
UFC legend Chael Sonnen believes Ngannou could struggle to market himself for a big boxing showdown in the same way the Irishman did with the backing of UFC president Dana White. "Conor became the champion of the world and that spurred some surprising interest from Floyd Mayweather and the boxing community," Sonnen said during a YouTube video on his channel when assessing Ngannou's potential for success in the boxing ring.
"He was a [two-division] simultaneous champion of the world who also won an interim championship [at UFC 189], a fight that he took on six days notice. All of those things are relevant. Everything that Conor was ever asked to do, he said yes. They [the UFC] could trust him, they liked working with him. He had what we call goodwill. He was owed a favour.
"The UFC champion going and doing something with Tyson Fury had Tyson Fury's attention, just like Conor had Floyd's. The two-time simultaneous champion of the UFC, with Dana White on stage, had value. The only question for Tyson Fury is, 'Do I still want to box, and if I do, is it going to be against Jones or Ciryl?'."
Who would you like to see Francis Ngannou fight in the boxing ring? Let us know in the comments section below.
Ngannou was considered arguably the hardest-hitter in the UFC and was touted to at least cause problems to the top talents in the boxing world. Fury and Ngannou agreed to a boxing fight on social media, but UFC president Dana White refused to give his backing to a repeat of McGregor's crossover bout.
However, the 36-year-old believes the time is right to arrange a fight and has also called out Anthony Joshua. He said on the MMA Hour : "I think Fury has retired and come back. I don't know where Fury is right now, but now it is time. Before, we could not do anything concrete beyond the social media stuff.
"Whatever it is, if it is with Tyson Fury , I will take it. I have no problem doing boxing with 4oz gloves, we will figure it out. Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua would be my first ideal opponent."
