Francis Ngannou closest to Deontay Wilder boxing date, aiming for $30M payday

Francis Ngannou created a lot of buzz when he opted to not take UFC’s contract renewal offer and instead pursue free agency. The now stripped UFC heavyweight champion has a lot of interesting offers on the table.

Ngannou has options in Boxing, MMA and even bare knuckle.

According to head coach Eric Nicksick, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou appears to be most interested in professional boxing. He also claimed that a matchup with former WBC champion Deontay Wilder has peaked his interest.

Potential opponents for Ngannou include Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, Derek Chisora and Anthony Joshua.

Eric Nicksick revealed in an interview:

“We spoke all last week on probably doing boxing first. That sounds like what he wants to do. We were talking about some different boxing trainers we might try to bring in, locations of where he might try to go, the opportunity to maybe fight (Deontay) Wilder. Anthony Joshua’s been a name.”

“I’ve heard Tyson Fury. I’ve heard Andy Ruiz. I’ve heard all these different names kind of pop up. But the one that sounds like the most intriguing to Francis has been definitely the Wilder fight. So we’ll see how this transpires and what’s gonna happen, but I’m just glad to have him home and back in the gym.”

According to a top MMA manager, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou wants $30 million to switch to boxing.

Boxing promoter Tolya Sulyanov provided a screenshot of a recent text exchange with Ali Abdelaziz concerning Ngannou’s financial preferences in a recent Instagram story post.

If Abdelaziz’s assertion is true, Ngannou will want a salary on par with those of prominent boxers like Deontay Wilder and Canelo Alvarez.

Ngannou’s recent unanimous decision victory against Gane in the UFC earned him only $600,000. While the amount was more than all other combatants on the card, but it is still a very tiny portion of what he intends to earn through boxing.