Francis brought excitement to boxing. He needs one gimmie (Wilder?) fight and then needs to fight Fury/Usyk/Joshua.

[Leon Edwards]

Boxing was really stale until Francis showed up. Boxing is still stale without him

Joshua is boring
Fury is exciting
Usyk is boring
Wilder is boring but has KO power.

Everyone else is not really worth mentioning.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

You think Wilder is a gimme? Well, I've got some bad news for ya bud, he'd sleep Francis with the first right hand that connects. Joshua landed his straight right hands at will and Francis couldn't even adjust to defend against them. That's Wilder's signature punch. The writing is on the wall.

 

[Blastbeat]

if you think Usyk is boring then you dont like boxing.
which, obviously, you dont.
you also DKSAB so that doesnt help either. i dont think you could name an "everyone else".

run along now back to The Lightweights

 

[djacobox372]

Wilder's right hand is longer, harder, faster, and sneakier than AJ's

If Francis fought wilder he'd likely be slept by the first punch Widler threw.

A lot of people banking on Francis doing well predicated it on him having a Big George Foreman level chin.... he doesn't--he needs stay away from punchers.

 

[Nova44]

Mma fans will create threads about the same thing a thousand times won't they.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Francis shouldn't box anyone in the top 20-25
Wilder
Whyte
Parker
Etc
All murk him

 

[Naoya#1]

Wilder boring? That man always delivers, be it some stupid shit he says, toughness or a nasty KO.

Or doing a 180 degree jump while looking like a ballet dancer who lacks balls.

Your boy is just a little bitch who shit in the bed once he faced someone who could match his power and that fight went down as one of the worst WWE fights ever.

 

[Leon Edwards]

Wilder's right hand is longer, harder, faster, and sneakier than AJ's

If Francis fought wilder he'd likely be slept by the first punch Widler threw.

A lot of people banking on Francis doing well predicated it on him having a Big George Foreman level chin.... he doesn't--he needs stay away from punchers.

You think foreman takes those shots from Anthony Joshua?

 

[Fox by the Sea]

0-10 Francis is the bext boxer ever.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Francis shouldn't box anyone in the top 20-25
Wilder
Whyte
Parker
Etc
All murk him

We have mediocrities in the Top 15-25 range that he could likely beat. It's not like they're all highly dangerous or leagues above Francis in skill. Some of them have already been knocked out like Francis. Only it didn't take AJ to KO them. They were stopped by much lesser opposition.

 

[treelo]

2 year old troll account, strange

 

[Jonny Ninja]

You think foreman takes those shots from Anthony Joshua?

Not if he took it like ngannou. A skilled boxer probably rides the shot enough to take some of the sting off of it. Not saying they survive it but bracing and trying to eat either of those last 2 shots ko’s 99% of HWs.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Not if he took it like ngannou. A skilled boxer probably rides the shot enough to take some of the sting off of it. Not saying they survive it but bracing and trying to eat either of those last 2 shots ko’s 99% of HWs.

Not to mention an elite boxer would have his mouth closed when the punch landed. Their jaw wouldn't be loose like Ngannou's was. This is such a bad habit of his. Elite boxers know not only how to defend but also how to take punches as you noted.

 

[zapataxiv]

You think foreman takes those shots from Anthony Joshua?

Yuri no...
George was a tank

 

[TheGreatA]

Ngannou is done in boxing

 

[Dr Fong]

Ngannou is done in boxing

I doubt it.

Francis has 7 million instagram followers. That's not the kind of name recognition number that gets immediately thrown in the trash off of one KO.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

I doubt it.

Francis has 7 million instagram followers. That's not the kind of name recognition number that gets immediately thrown in the trash off of one KO.

I don't use IG but I have several thousand followers on Twitter/X. The majority of them are bots. Not to mention that it's easy for people to heavily inflate their following (hundreds of thousands or even millions of 'followers' can be bought).

If Francis really has that many (verified human) followers just on IG alone then there's no reason he should be averaging such low PPV buy rates in boxing & MMA. I'm hearing this fight did around 900k buys internationally but that'd be down to AJ's drawing power mostly.

 

[Dr Fong]

I don't use IG but I have several thousand followers on Twitter/X. The majority of them are bots. Not to mention that it's easy for people to heavily inflate their following (hundreds of thousands or even millions of 'followers' can be bought).

If Francis really has that many (verified human) followers just on IG alone then there's no reason he should be averaging such low PPV buy rates in boxing & MMA. I'm hearing this fight did around 900k buys internationally but that'd be down to AJ's drawing power mostly.

Nobody is saying Francis is a Floyd-level PPV star. Nobody even said Francis will headline a boxing PPV for his next fight - he won't. Nobody is headlining after that destruction. But since when is headlining a PPV the only spot on a boxing card?

He still has significant name recognition (yes IG numbers are inflated but this applies to everyone - you can look at his relative numbers compared to other boxers). The Saudis will likely still see some value in him (at a much, much reduced wage) to bolster an undercard.

I think if anyone is wagering that Francis will never box again - which is the claim I responded to - they'd be making a very silly bet.

Francis may be finished as a fighter. He is old and we saw how much the first Stipe fight mentally destroyed him vs Lewis. This may cripple him. But I doubt it cripples him enough to stop him from at least attempting a comeback.

 

[TheGreatA]

I doubt it.

Francis has 7 million instagram followers. That's not the kind of name recognition number that gets immediately thrown in the trash off of one KO.

From what I understand the Fury fight bombed and the novelty has worn off after Joshua knocked him cold. What's the point in any top guy fighting him after that performance? They can't top it, they'd only look foolish by comparison if Ngannou manages to hang in there for a few rounds.

The guy's pro record is 0-2. Basically boxing's CM Punk. He should at least go KO a few cans to improve the optics of someone fighting him again.

 

[Kovalev's "Man Bag"]

Nobody is saying Francis is a Floyd-level PPV star. Nobody even said Francis will headline a boxing PPV for his next fight - he won't. Nobody is headlining after that destruction. But since when is headlining a PPV the only spot on a boxing card?

He still has significant name recognition (yes IG numbers are inflated but this applies to everyone - you can look at his relative numbers compared to other boxers). The Saudis will likely still see some value in him (at a much, much reduced wage) to bolster an undercard.

I think if anyone is wagering that Francis will never box again - which is the claim I responded to - they'd be making a very silly bet.

Francis may be finished as a fighter. He is old and we saw how much the first Stipe fight mentally destroyed him vs Lewis. This may cripple him. But I doubt it cripples him enough to stop him from at least attempting a comeback.

While he does have international name recognition he's not a PPV star nevermind a superstar. He's never been a draw on the platform. If he actually had anywhere near that number of real people following him on social media then he'd be pulling significantly higher PPV buy rates. It's just common sense. Ryan Garcia also has a big social media following only he actually sells PPVs despite having never been a champ.

I wouldn't bet against Francis boxing again. There's a good chance he will as there's still money left on the table. He just needs to get himself back into title contention.