Promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom has warned Deontay Wilder to stay away from a potential fight with MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.
Wilder’s head trainer, Malik Scott, has indicated that his man is very interested in facing Ngannou in the ring.
The former UFC heavyweight champion made his professional boxing debut last month in Saudi Arabia, where he faced heavily favored Tyson Fury.
Fury, who holds two wins over Wilder, was shockingly dropped in the third round and barely scrapped away with a ten round split decision win.
Ngannou’s handlers would like to face Wilder in a “mixed rules” fight. The set of rules for such a fight would likely allow kicks.
Wilder reportedly has interest in a mixed rules contest – which Hearn believes would be a big mistake.
“It’s madness, have you seen his legs?” Hearn told Boxing Social. “If Ngannou kicks those legs, they will snap in two.
“I think Wilder should stick to the boxing and I think he should just have a boxing fight, he hasn’t boxed for over a year.
“Hopefully that could be [against] AJ, or he may end up getting the fight with Ngannou, who knows? We want to see Wilder back in the ring, not in the cage, because I’m not sure how that would go.”
Wilder has been out of the ring since October of 2022, when he knocked out Robert Helenius in a single round.
For much of 2023, there had been talk of a year-end showdown with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia. Those plans hit a wall when the management group that handles sports, in Saudi, went through some changes and the funding for such an event fell through. Hearn is still hoping to make that fight in the early part of 2024.