I don’t want to fight Ngannou, Joshua tells promoter

Mike Tyson and Ngannou. Photo: Punch

.Tyson praises fighter for sticking to game plan

Former two-time world heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, has told promoter, Eddie Hearn, that he has absolutely no interest in fighting newcomer, Francis Ngannou, when they discussed the opportunity of a big-money crossover clash, britishboxingnews.co.uk reports.

The 44-year-old boxing promoter explained that Joshua expressed zero interest in taking on the lineal UFC heavyweight champion, despite knowing the major money that could be earned.

When they discussed the possibility, Hearn claims that it was not even on his fighter’s radar, which is covered completely by his path back to heavyweight gold.

In a prickly interview with talkSPORT, Hearn told host Jim White that AJ said during their discussions that he has, “absolutely no interest at all,” in the fight, before adding: “I want to become heavyweight world champion again, I’ve got no interest in fighting Francis Ngannou.”

Previously, Hearn had discussed the notion of contacting Ngannou’s team and advising Joshua to ‘take the fight in a heartbeat’.

“Francis Ngannou came to me, we had a very nice meeting and he’s got a great story,” Hearn added. “He came to me because he wanted to fight Anthony Joshua. I went straight to AJ, I’ve said ‘look it’s a bit of a left-field one’ and don’t forget Anthony Joshua is not a world champion and didn’t have a shot at the world championship.”

But the Watford man completely shut down any chances of discussions further and remains locked in negotiations with American, Deontay Wilder, for a mega-fight in January or February 2024.

Meanwhile, Ngannou’s trainer, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson, has praised the Cameroonian for following the game plan against Tyson Fury.

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