UFC Great Predicts Ngannou Will Be Boxing World Champion This Year
Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans has boldly predicted that Francis Ngannou will become the boxing heavyweight champion of the world “by the end of this year”.
Ngannou held the UFC heavyweight title between September 2021 and March 2022 before leaving the promotion at the end of his contract.
He made his professional boxing debut in October last year against undefeated WBC champion Tyson Fury and almost shocked the world; he lost a split decision in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia but not before dropping Fury in the third round and proving a lot of doubters wrong.
Since then, the 37-year-old Cameroonian has been focused full-time on his boxing career and will next face two-time world champion Anthony Joshua, again in Riyadh, in March.
Once again, Ngannou will be the overwhelming outsider, especially after Joshua’s impressive return to form in 2023, which saw the Briton win three fights, including dominant stoppages against Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin.
That is not deterring Evans, though, and the American is convinced Ngannou will continue to shock the world.
“It’s hard for me to put anything past Francis, man. That performance [against Fury] and now he’s gonna be fighting Anthony Joshua. I think he’s gonna do it,” Evans, 44, said in an interview with GiveMeSport. “I made a prediction at the end of [2023] and I said, ‘I think that Francis Ngannou is gonna be a heavyweight boxing champ by the end of the year’.”
While it would seem a long shot, Evans did apply some logic to his opinion. When Ngannou fought Fury, the Briton’s WBC title was not on the line. However, Evans is convinced Fury will want a rematch with Ngannou to prove he is the better fighter, and next time will make it for the world championship.
‘Ngannou Can Force Fury To Gamble’
However, that rematch would likely depend on the Cameroonian beating AJ in March, while Fury will also need to avoid defeat in his undisputed title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in May.
“[If Ngannou beats Joshua] I feel Francis kind of forces Tyson Fury to take that step where he gambles the belt and Tyson Fury, provided he gets past Usyk, he’s gonna want to take that gamble,” Evans said.
“So he’s gonna show people because, to him, you can win a fight and have your hand raised, but inside, when you really lost a fight, you know, and even though Tyson Fury won that fight, he knows.”
Evans’ stance is based on Ngannou’s strength of mind – which is something he also received praise for from Fury in the build-up to their fight last year – and the belief the Cameroonian would have gained from his impressive boxing debut. There’s also the not-insignificant matter of Ngannou’s ferocious power.
‘Fury One Of The Best Heavyweights To Do It’
“What Francis showed me in that fight with Tyson Fury is that no matter what your advantage or your perceived advantage can be, if he puts his mind to it, he could do it,” Evans said. “[People] don’t really understand how huge that was for him to be able to do that.”
Despite his conviction that Ngannou could beat Fury in a rematch, Evans was quick to praise the heavyweight champion of the world, placing Fury alongside some of the greatest fighters in boxing history.
“Not only is [Fury] the champion now, but honestly speaking, looking at skill for skill, I would say technically speaking, he’s one of the better heavyweights to ever do it,” the New Yorker said.
“When you look at the speed, when you look at the footwork, when you look at everything that Tyson Fury brings, he’s a mix of a lot of different great boxers. He’s got a jab like Larry Holmes, he’s got movement like Muhammad Ali – at times, he’s got power like Mike Tyson, he’s a great combination of fighter.”
