Eddie Hearn has responded to Francis Ngannou as the former UFC heavyweight champ says he was tricked ahead of the Anthony Joshua fight.
Ngannou had his second boxing fight against Joshua after he fought Tyson Fury to a split decision loss. Yet, against Joshua, he suffered a second-round knockout loss as he was dominated by the Brit and was dropped three times, with the third being the knockout blow.
On Monday, Ngannou says he felt tricked as he says he had to get to the venue much earlier than Joshua which impacted him as he says he was tired by the time he fought.
“Listen, we both fought at 3am. What I think happened is that they get me to the arena very early. Like my pickup time was 10.30pm to go to the arena. And then when we get to the arena, they tell us that we are scheduled around 1:45am right? They come to the locker around 1am and Joshua [was just arriving around 1]. I’m like, ‘OK, we are fighting at the same time, how come I have a pickup time?’”
“We received a schedule, an email, and then for some reason I was there at least one hour before. But for the fight, at least two hours beforehand. They do this kind of trick to get you tired. I was like cool, I was like, ‘Bro, it’s okay.’ I didn’t know how important that was, until the fight day that I had to get there two hours before,” Ngannou said to Ariel Helwani (via TalkSPORT).
Following Ngannou’s comments, Eddie Hearn responded to those comments in a simple Instagram comment:
“I’m not sure he has come round yet,” Hearn wrote.
Although Francis Ngannou thinks he was tricked, Anthony Joshua did dominate the fight from start to finish and he showed the difference in levels between the two.
Francis Ngannou Still Open To Another Boxing Match
After Francis Ngannou’s loss to Anthony Joshua, many wondered if ‘The Predator’ would box again.
Ngannou is now 0-2 as a boxer, but he fought two of the top heavyweights alive. Although the focus will likely turn to MMA and fighting for PFL, Ngannou says he does have an interest in boxing again, and mentions the rematch with Tyson Fury as a possibility.
But, for now, it seems likely that Ngannou’s next fight will be in the PFL against Renan Ferreira who knocked out Ryan Bader.