When Jake Paul’s exhibition boxing match against Gervonta “Tank” Davis fell apart last year, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was contacted to step in as a replacement. “The Predator” did not take the offer seriously and was offended that he was even asked.
Of course, former Olympic gold medalist and two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua replaced Davis and the match was no longer an exhibition. Joshua stopped Paul in the sixth round via TKO leaving the influencer-turned-boxer with a broken jaw.
Ngannou is booked by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions to face Philipe Lins in the Rousey vs. Carano co-main event on May 16, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Paul hopes to meet Ngannou in the boxing ring next.
“I’m definitely going to keep on fighting. We’ll see how the jaw continues to heal up,” Paul told Sky Sports Boxing. “I would say there’s a long list of opponents. I think most recently, Francis Ngannou was talking a lot of smack.
“I think that’s an easy fight for me,” said Paul. “I think he’s a terrible boxer. I maybe want to go back up to heavyweight and knock him out like Joshua did and render him unconscious. And he knows I lasted longer than him against Joshua and didn’t get put out.”
Ngannou faced Joshua in March 2024 and was brutally knocked out in the second round. Paul lasted until the sixth frame against “AJ” but he and Ngannou had vastly different approaches to the match.
While Paul wants to fight Ngannou and Ngannou stated during the Rousey vs. Carano KickOff Press Conference that he wanted ‘beat Paul’s a**,’ Paul isn’t confident Ngannou would take the bout.
“I think he maybe wouldn’t do the fight because I think deep down he wouldn’t want to get embarrassed. So, to me, that’s a fun one on the list,” Paul said.
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