Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn is a firm believer that one of his top names Dillian Whyte could face UFC heavyweight superstar Francis Ngannou in 2020.
Hearn and UFC boss Dana White have a good relationship and the Brit is planning on talking with White about a cross-sport match.
“The Body Snatcher” is currently preparing himself for his postponed fight with former world champion Alexander Povetkin, as there is still no clue on when and where the fight could be staged.
Ngannou and Whyte have both been trading words on social media and they are both more than willing to face each other in a boxing fight.
“I never really thought we would take this too seriously, but in the last week we have to take this seriously,” Hearn told Sky Sports.
“The aim for Dillian Whyte is to become a world boxing champion, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Dillian Whyte against Ngannou towards the end of this year. Obviously we know Povetkin is next, but whether it’s October, November, December.
“I’m going to be reaching out to Dana White and saying: ‘Tell me how this works? Can we actually do this? Are we doing it in a ring? Are we doing it in a cage? Are we doing one round of each?’ It’s really got a lot of momentum and a lot of promise. I think there’s a really good chance it could happen.”
“There’s not just interest online, there is huge interest everywhere for that fight. When I first started discussing it, it was just something that had been mentioned. Fans of both disciplines have always said: ‘Whyte against Ngannou is a cracker’. I’ve started to receive a lot of interest from numerous people about staging that fight now. I think it does colossal numbers.
“It’s the first real, genuine crossover fight. I know we had Floyd and we had Conor, but this is a different kind of fight. This is a different kind of experience. This is brutality at its absolute rawest. This fight does huge numbers. It’s got the boxing fans, it’s got the MMA fans, it’s got the intrigue. It’s got everything.”
Source: www.boxingscene.com
