Floyd Mayweather on Francis Ngannou: ‘I Would Love to Work With Him’

Count Floyd Mayweather Jr. among those interested in Francis Ngannou’s transition to boxing.

In an interview on Wednesday with BetOnline.ag, Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) discussed a litany of topics including the state of boxing and what advice he would give a younger boxer. The conversation largely began with one about MMA fighters crossing over to the sweet science, whether in the form of exhibitions or even pro matches. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king Francis Ngannou’s name was mentioned among those, and Mayweather spoke about him specifically.

“I would love to work with him, actually,” Mayweather said. “I would love to work with him; I would love to sign him to Mayweather Promotions. Very skilled guy, he was unbelievable from the highlights that I was able to see in MMA. I would like to work with him someday. If he wants to fight one of the top heavyweight guys, he should do it.”

Mayweather, 46, promotes and trains several boxers. While he still competes actively through exhibitions, he has found some joy in coaching. If the situation arose, “Money” would be interested in training Ngannou.

“Absolutely,” Mayweather answered. “It’s gonna take a while…I mean, I can’t say it’s gonna take a while because in the heavyweight division, it takes just one shot. At any weight class, actually, it takes just one shot. So, with his size and his strength and his power, anything can happen…he’s powerful, and with his power and his toughness, he’s able to make some noise in the heavyweight division.”

Mayweather briefly touched on an upcoming matchup, but was coy to reveal any detail other than that it will take place in the U.S. It will be an exhibition, as all of his bouts post-Conor McGregor have been, instead of going on his professional record. This would allow the 46-year-old to play to entertain the crowd without the stakes of tarnishing his unblemished record. He has, however, knocked a few of those foes out, flattening Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018 before wiping out Mikuru Asakura and Deji Olatunji in 2022.

As it pertained to offering advice, Mayweather had a simple line: “The less you get hit, the longer you can last.”