Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou has stated that he has no intention of quitting boxing even if he loses his non-title fight to Anthony Joshua.
The 37-year-old mixed martial artist will on Friday, March 8 take on former boxing heavyweight champion Joshua at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in an explosive contest,
Ahead of Friday’s bout, Ngannou says he plans to continue his boxing career through 2024 and beyond even he loses to Joshua.
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“I will still do some MMA fights, but I’m not leaving boxing,” Ngannou said at the event’s grand arrivals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“Remember, at the beginning, it was boxing. I wasn’t aware of MMA. And for more than a decade, it was all about boxing, dreaming about boxing.
“And then even when the opportunity came around in MMA, it was, for me, an opportunity to shine, to be a world champion, and then potentially switch to do the crossover and go back to boxing, because I feel like it was something that I needed, I had to fulfil to be at peace with myself. To retire peacefully, I needed to do boxing because I just love it. I can’t tell you why, but I love it and I enjoy it.”
Ngannou faces 34-year-old two-time former heavyweight champion Joshua in a 10-round bout this weekend at Kingdom Arena.
The fight is the second of Ngannou’s burgeoning professional boxing career.
The former UFC heavyweight champion stunned the boxing world in October 2023, when he knocked down Tyson Fury in his pro-debut and nearly came away with one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sweet science.
The Cameroonian eventually lost to a split decision, however, his performance blew away the expectations of many and left boxing lifers such as Eddie Hearn and Carl Frampton singing his praises.
