Following Oleksandr Usyk’s huge win over Tyson Fury this past weekend, former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman wants to see Francis Ngannou given the next title shot.
Oleksandr Usyk became the first undisputed heavyweight champion in 25 years, with Lenox Lewis being the last one to complete the feat back in 1999.
After a strong first few rounds, it seemed as though the belts would be returning to the UK with Tyson Fury after he impressively kept Usyk at bay with his counter-punching.
Despite that, the hard-hitting Ukrainian scored a knockdown in round nine and turned the tide of the fight from there on out.
Kamaru Usman wants to see Oleksandr Usyk vs Francis Ngannou next
Francis Ngannou impressively emerged onto the boxing scene in October last year, when he took Tyson Fury to a split decision in his debut.
Following that, the 37-year-old took a fight against the athletic Anthony Joshua and was unfortunately knocked out brutally in the second round.
Former UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, has called for a fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Francis Ngannou, despite Ngannou’s devastating loss last time out.
“I know it’s crazy and I know everyone is going to try and say something about it, but I would love to see (Usyk) fight a guy like Francis Ngannou.” Kamaru Usman said on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast.
“Only for the sheer fact of, yes I want to see the level of skill here. Yes (Usyk) has schooled the other guys, but Francis is the biggest puncher out there and I want to see how Oleksandr Usyk is able to break a guy like that down.” Usman added.
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‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and Francis Ngannou are good friends, and Usman even walked out with Ngannou for his boxing debut.
Usyk has already beaten the aforementioned Anthony Joshua twice, and if he doesn’t rematch Tyson Fury next, there aren’t many options for the 37-year-old.
“Yeah, (Usyk) has already beaten everybody else, he’s beaten everyone else.” Usman finished.
Henry Cejudo offers differing opinion and calls for rematch
Co-host of the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Henry Cejudo, did though offer a differing opinion and claimed that the ‘biggest winner’ of the fight was Tyson Fury because he gets to activate a rematch clause.
“The real winner on this is really Tyson Fury because Tyson Fury gets another clause, you know, he does a rematch clause to fight (Usyk) once again, and not just that but there is that potential match between him and Anthony Joshua.” Cejudo said.
Fury and Joshua have been begged to fight each other for what seems like years, but now could be the perfect time for them to finally meet inside the ring, despite there being no titles up for grabs.
It is unclear as of this moment whether ‘The Gypsy King’ will activate the rematch clause in his contract, as he has already hinted at another retirement from the sport.