Deontay Wilder has had a rough ride of late, losing four of his last five fights.
The "Bronze Bomber" is a longtime former WBC world heavyweight champion, having successfully defended the title 10 times before losing to Tyson Fury in 2020. Wilder then lost the rematch the following year before defeating Robert Helenius in 2022 and losing to Jospeh Parker and Zhilei Zhang in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
There are now rumours that Wilder could take on Franncis Ngannou, the MMA superstar who stepped into a boxing ring against both Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua over the past 13 months, and Bermane Stiverne believes that a Wilder vs. Ngannou boxing match makes sense given Wilder's career trajectory.
"At this point, it would only be for money because I don't see the sense of these two fighting each other apart from the economics of it," Stiverne told baccarat.net "After Francis Ngannou fought Anthony Joshua, it was a hard fight for him against someone who was top (level). People wanted to see what was going to happen because he did good against Tyson Fury. Some people thought he beat Fury and others thought he lost but even with the defeat, it was still a good outcome for Francis.
"But when he got with Anthony Joshua, AJ walked all over him so I don’t think that if he comes back and fights in boxing that he will fight a top-level fighter. I don’t think it would make sense. The way I see it is, if Deontay Wilder and Francis Ngannou fight, it will be because the money is good."
Stiverne was the man who held the WBC title before losing to Wilder in early 2015, and the now-retired fighter thinks it may be time for the hard-hitting American to also consider hanging up the gloves — at least as a professional.
For Stiverne, Wilder's best course of action is to pursue exhibitions.
"Boxing is a lot different these days," he said. "Mike Tyson is 58 and returned to the ring so it’s very different (compared to my era). That’s why Deontay can look at fighting Francis Ngannou next and why not?
"But as far as competing at the top level, being in the world’s top 10 and fighting for world titles, I don’t think there’s any chance of that and he shouldn’t be fighting (at that level) as it seems like he is finished. You can now fight in exhibitions and different types of fights instead, and that’s what he should do."
