ANTHONY JOSHUA could one day share the ring with Francis Ngannou after his promoter refused to rule out a fight with the UFC’s heavyweight champion.
The fearsome Ngannou claimed the UFC’s heavyweight throne last month with a brutal second-round KO victory over Stipe Miocic.
And in the weeks following his historic victory, the Cameroonian clubber has reiterated his desire to compete in boxing.
Ngannou, 34, is open to blockbuster crossover bouts with Joshua and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who are set to meet one another in the summer.
He told ESPN: “This is in the future, it’s somewhere, definitely. I’m going to box; I have to box in my career.
“My main dream has always been the noble art and even though I deviated into MMA, which I love, I still have to fulfil something in boxing.”
And Matchroom Boxing chief Eddie Hearn is open to making the bout, telling Sirius XM: “AJ wants to be the best, but he also wants to do different things once he meets his goals.
“So a fight with Francis Ngannou isn’t impossible. Just like Katie Taylor vs [Cris] Cyborg or [Amanda] Nunes, potentially.”
But how does the UFC’s first African heavyweight champion stack up against AJ?
SunSport is on hand to give you all the details on a potential showdown between the pair.
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Age
Unified heavyweight champion Joshua has a significant advantage in the age department.
AJ is the younger man at 31, while Ngannou is 34 going on 35.
Experience
Joshua has significantly more fights to his name than his UFC counterpart having taken to the ring 25 times.
Ngannou, meanwhile, only has 19 professional mixed martial arts fights to his name.
Physical
Joshua may not be as physically imposing as The Predator, but he is the bigger man.
The Olympic gold medallist stands at a whopping 6’6, while Ngannou comes in at 6’4.
Ngannou does, however, have a marked weight advantage over AJ, weighing nearly TWO STONE more than the Brit.
Joshua tipped the scales at 240lbs for his clash with Kubrat Pulev last December, while Ngannou weighed in at 263lbs for his rematch with Miocic.
Despite being the shorter man, Ngannou also edges out Joshua in the reach department.
The Batie brawler has an 83-inch reach while the taller Joshua has an 82-inch reach.
Records
Joshua has only tasted defeat once in his illustrious career, losing to Andy Ruiz Jr in June 2019.
Ngannou, meanwhile, has three defeats on his mixed martial arts record, the most recent of which came at the hands of Derrick Lewis in July 2018.
Joshua avenged his sole career loss in a rematch in December 2019, which he won via unanimous decision.
Although Ngannou has yet to exact revenge on Lewis or Zoumana Cisse, he did level his series with Miocic in brutal fashion.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
