‘Who knows?’ – Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn reveals talks with UFC legend Nate Diaz about potential fight against super-middleweight king Canelo Alvarez
Eddie Hearn has revealed he’s been speaking to Nate Diaz who is gunning for a fight with Canelo Alvarez now that he’s a free agent.
Diaz brought his legendary 15-year stint with the UFC to an end in September last year after picking up a fourth-round submission win over Tony Ferguson.
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The MMA icon suggested during his post-fight speech at UFC 279 that he will enter the sport of boxing, but he’s been fairly quiet on his combat sports future ever since.
However, according to Hearn, Diaz is making moves behind the scenes.
The boxing promoter recently revealed he’s been speaking to Diaz who is hoping to secure a fight with pound-for-pound boxing superstar, Canelo, whose interests he looks after.
Hearn told : “It was just a friendly conversation to say, 'What are you thinking?' And Nate Diaz's mindset is, 'I want to fight Canelo Alvarez.’ And who knows?
“It's very difficult to give Nate Diaz a shot in a Canelo Alvarez fight. But again, Nate Diaz can box. I'm not saying he's going to compete with Canelo Alvarez.
"But he's got a big fanbase and I think there's a fascination behind seeing these guys do something different. It's the unknown. What's going to happen?”
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Hearn compared Diaz vs Canelo to a potential fight between former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and boxing superstar Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou recently left the UFC after failing to come to terms on a new deal.
‘The Predator’ has expressed an interest in facing Tyson Fury or ‘AJ’ in the ring and Hearn, who promotes Joshua, seems to like that idea as he has been in touch with Ngannou since his UFC exit.
Hearn added: “At least with [Francis] Ngannou against AJ you've got two huge punchers where something could happen.
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"I have no idea. What if Francis Ngannou came out and they traded up and he knocked Anthony Joshua out?"
The 43-year-old stressed, though, he is just having preliminary talks with the former UFC fighters and is not close to booking them against Canelo, Joshua, or anyone else in boxing.
Alvarez is expected to fight in May against John Ryder before looking to book a rematch with Dmitry Bivol who shockingly beat him over 12 rounds last year.
Meanwhile, Joshua is aiming to rebound from back-to-back defeats against Oleksandr Usyk and has been linked to a fight with American heavyweight, Jermaine Franklin.
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