Francis Ngannou’s fighting future remains uncertain following the tragic death of his youthful son earlier this month.
On May 1, 37-year-old Ngannou posted the following on social media: “My baby boy, my partner and my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now he lies lifeless…Toh, he’ll be gone soon, and yet he’s gone.
With him I was the best version of myself, and now I have no idea who I am. Life is so unfair that it hits us where it hurts the most.
“How do you deal with something like this? How to live with it?”
In just two professional boxing bouts in five months, the former UFC heavyweight champion made his mark on boxing, pushing Tyson Fury to the end – and defeating the Gypsy King – in his debut, then being stopped in two rounds by Anthony Joshua . February.
However, the Las Vegas-based Cameroonian will understandably take some time to consider what he wants to do in the future as he comes to terms with his tragic loss.
“We’ll see. As you know, he had a tragic situation with the death of his 18-month-old son just a month ago, so we’re not thinking about fighting at all right now,” said his coach Dewey Cooper. “My heart and spirit are still with him. He is in the process of healing from the most tragic thing that can happen to a parent. There is nothing in this world, and I mean nothing in this world, more tragic than the death of your child. You know the natural order of things. We should warn our children, so when something so devastating happens, I’m not sure I’ll be able to recover from something so traumatic.
“He takes it day by day. I wasn’t even thinking about the fight or what he would do in terms of fighting. My heart is only with him. I only wish him healing and being able to live with it somehow. It’s bad. And this is very depressed.
“He lost his son Kobe and we will see what happens in the future.”
Cooper, who coaches Team Combat League, is also working with Mike Tyson ahead of the heavyweight icon’s upcoming event with Jake Paul. However, Cooper has remained in contact with Ngannou over the past few weeks.
“We’re talking,” Cooper added. “I would like to see him do whatever his heart desires. He had a long and challenging path to a career in mixed martial arts, he had two good boxing fights. What Francis has done is unprecedented. His first fight in boxing, a lineal champion fight, I told everyone what it would be like, and then he fought Anthony Joshua, so in his first two fights he fought two of the top three heavyweights of that era.
“Whatever he wants to do, of course we support him. If it were completely up to me, of course I would like to see him box again. He has the ability and talent to do so. The Joshua fight didn’t go our way, it just wasn’t our night tonight, but you saw the skill he has against Fury and there are definitely some heavyweights he could beat.”
The heavyweight division has been in the spotlight since Oleksandr Usyk became undisputed champion against Fury last weekend. Usyk has petitioned the IBF to retain the title ahead of the fight between Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois, which many believe could mean a fight for the vacant belt.
“Before Francis fought Joshua, I was really rooting for Fury [to beat Usyk] because I felt we would beat Joshua and we wanted the rematch with Fury anyway,” Cooper said. “But after we got beat by Anthony Joshua, I knew Usyk was going to win that fight. It was wishful thinking, hoping that Fury would win, but I knew Usyk would be able to win this fight.
“The idea is that cruiserweights fight at a faster pace. If you’re a cruiserweight who can take over the heavyweight division, you have an advantage. You’re a bit faster, you’re more mobile, you have a better gas tank, and you have better skill sets most of the time. Usyk showed it. He had some problems at the beginning, but it was challenging for him to maintain this pace. He is incredibly acute with his boxing and pace, and Usyk’s skills have started to shine. I knew Usyk would win this fight. I didn’t know if he would be able to stop Fury, but I thought he would win by a close decision like he did.
BoxingScene sends Francis Ngannou our condolences and best wishes.
