Ngannou Will Beat Joshua – ‘He’s On A Mission,’ Says PFL’s Peter Murray
Peter Murray, the CEO of the PFL, has backed Francis Ngannou to beat Anthony Joshua.
The two fighters face off on March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for Ngannou’s second boxing fight. His sole bout came against Tyson Fury last October as he lost a split decision. He was praised for the manner of the performance, dropping Fury in the third round before going the distance.
The bout earned Ngannou a top-ten WBC ranking as he secured the Joshua fight. Ngannou’s skills are still unknown. The Fury fight raised questions over whether the WBC Heavyweight Champion had an off-night because he overlooked Ngannou or whether it was Ngannou who troubled Fury. But Murray gave Ngannou a real chance of winning.
Joshua Vs. Ngannou
“Everybody underestimated Francis with Tyson, including Tyson. So, I think Francis has been training constantly. He certainly won the crowd and the fan base around the world, and many would say, including me, he won that fight.
“But he’s on a mission and I would not underestimate the big fella against AJ. It’s going to be a massive event. We’re excited for him, and we’ll obviously be in his corner. I believe he can [beat Joshua]. Francis is only going to get better in his second showing,” Murray said
The winner will get a crack at the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship against Tyson Fury or Oleksandr Usyk. The latter two fight for all the belts on May 18. A win for Ngannou would pose a dilemma for his MMA career. Continual boxing success may mean further boxing bouts at the expense of MMA.
The biggest MMA fight for Ngannou is the Jon Jones fight. However, the CEO of the UFC, Dana White, has ruled that out, stating he would never work with Ngannou following his UFC departure. White even dismissed the idea of a co-promotion, dismissing the PFL as a collaborative partner.
There is an expectation for Ngannou to make his PFL debut this year. He could take on the 2023 PFL Heavyweight Champion Renan Ferreira. Outside, the other possible MMA fighters are Denis Goltsov and Ante Delija. While there is nothing new about an MMA opponent, Murray still expects it to happen.
Murray On Ngannou
“Francis Ngannou is fighting AJ in the ring, and once that concludes, Francis will be getting back into the cage and he will part of our second pay-per-view event. Once again, I think Francis is going to shock the world in that fight so we’re very supportive of what Francis is doing to elevate combat sports and continue on his journey as the very best in the world and we’re proud of him. But we’re also excited about what we will be doing in MMA and that next event will be a PFL PPV super fight with Francis this year,” Murray stated
But before that can happen, Ngannou must come through Joshua. A win gives him a serious decision over his MMA career. Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
