'Bronze Bomber' Still Likes Wilder Vs. Ngannou Combo
11/11/2024 07:00 AM
There have been talks in the past for Wilder and Ngannou to fight, and Wilder hopes there'll be more talks in the future as both heavyweights look to turn their fortunes around in the boxing ring.
Deontay Wilder is down to get talks going again with Francis Ngannou regarding some potential fights.
When Ngannou first left the UFC and was fishing for a top heavyweight to fight in boxing, things were looking a little sparse at first. After inviting him into the ring to hype up a potential fight, Tyson Fury started talking down the match-up. Anthony Joshua called it a circus fight. But Deontay Wilder always seemed genuinely interested in the match, even going so far as to suggest one bout in MMA and another in boxing.
None of that went anywhere after Ngannou secured fights with both Fury and Joshua. Maybe now it will? In a new interview with "The Bronze Bomber" from TMZ Sports, Wilder discussed what's next after he suffered two lackluster losses in the past twelve months.
"We're still going, we're still here, you know what I mean?" he said. "We just getting things together, man. I'm just handling a lot of things. I had a lot of outside distractions that I had to get rid of. A lot of burden upon me. I took care of a lot of people, man, and it just came to a point where I couldn't do it no more, you know what I'm saying?"
Wilder also revealed he fought with what turned out to be a broken arm and a torn up shoulder for the Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang losses. He didn't give any timeline for a next fight but did say offers had not been scarce.
"I mean, even since I've been off, there's been a lot of offers coming in, a lot of things, different countries and stuff like that," he said.
He shared some words of encouragement for Ngannou, who lost his son Kobe at the start of the year.
"What's up brother?" he said. "I hope everything's going good for you, man, and I'm sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what it's like to lose a child. I hope to never even feel that feeling of it, but I wish, I hope life is going beautifully for you, bro."
"And yeah, that's a combination station," he said of fighting Ngannou. "I'm still looking to get in there, in the mix, and talk about it."
Ngannou vs. Wilder certainly captures the imagination: two of the heaviest hitters in their respective sports stepping into the ring to see who can land first. The bloom is a bit off the rose of Ngannou's boxing career since he took a one-sided KO loss to Anthony Joshua ... but Wilder hasn't been blossoming of late either.
He talked Ngannou's chances up when asked about how competitive a fight may be.
"I mean, any fight is competitive," Wilder said. "You got a man that got two hands and two feet and a heart, that will to win, you got competition. You got a fight on your hands. That's why when you get in the ring, you respect every man that steps in there. You never know what he may bring to the fight."
