Eddie Hearn, the promoter for Anthony Joshua, claims to have spoken with Francis Ngannou about the possibility of facing the British-Nigerian.

After leaving the UFC after failing to secure a contract extension, Ngannou is currently the most sought-after prospect on the market. Joshua's promoter wasted no time in getting in touch with the heavyweight star, who was forced to relinquish his belt.

The head of Matchroom Boxing is also hopeful that Joshua would defeat Tyson Fury to the superfight with Ngannou.

“We’ll see what happens. For me, we would love to be involved with his career,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour.

“The Anthony Joshua fight is probably among the biggest fights that can be made in any sport. Obviously the Tyson Fury fight is there for him as well.

“I was pretty captivated by him. I’m not a massive MMA fan, but I still respect what he’s achieved there. But I just found him to be an outstanding gentleman. We’ll see how it goes.”

Hearn would rather Ngannou jumped straight into a blockbuster fight with Joshua as opposed to building his way up.

“I mean, I think he should fight Anthony Joshua. I don’t see — this is another conversation I had with Nate Diaz’s guys.

“These guys have a mountain to climb in terms of the challenge of fighting an elite boxer, but to go through the process of having two or three fights — one fight you might look bad because you’re learning, so the value really is the unknown,” Hearn said on The MMA Hour.

“What happens when two titans from the world of fight sports collide? The UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou and the two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua.

“The complete unknown. The unknown of how good is Francis Ngannou? We know he punches extremely hard, if he lands one on Anthony Joshua, is it the greatest upset of all time? Or will AJ completely steamroll him and you’ll see Francis Ngannou get knocked out? That’s the attraction of that fight, the unknown.

“So for me, if I’m representing Francis Ngannou, I want to make sure that this next move, I maximise every dollar that’s out there.

“He’s done the hard work, he’s done the years of hustle. He’s done the work to get himself in a position that he can move forward with what he wants to do,” Hearn said.

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios on Friday pleaded guilty to assaulting a former girlfriend, but avoided a conviction for what the magistrate called a “single act of stupidity”.

Appearing in a Canberra court, the Wimbledon finalist admitted assaulting then-girlfriend Chiara Passari on January 10, 2021, by pushing her to the ground after a heated argument.

Kyrgios said he was “not in a good place” at the time, and that he “reacted to a difficult situation in a way I deeply regret”.

“I know it wasn’t OK and I’m sincerely sorry for the hurt I caused,” he said in a statement.

Passari lodged a complaint with police 10 months after the incident, after the pair had broken up, lawyers told the court.

In a statement read to the court, Passari said she had been severely traumatised by the incident, experiencing severe weight loss, staying in bed day and night — unable to sleep or form new romantic relationships.

Lawyers for Kyrgios appealed to have the charge of one count of common assault dismissed on mental health grounds, arguing it was an isolated incident and out of character.

Psychologist Sam Borenstein told the court Kyrgios suffered from recurring major depression, which included black periods, thoughts of self harm, insomnia, agitation and feelings of guilt.

Borenstein said the tennis star had relied on alcohol and drugs as a means of coping, but was now making progress in dealing with the issues.

Magistrate Beth Campbell heard that appeal but ultimately dismissed the case without conviction.

Campbell said Kyrgios acted poorly but the offence was not planned or premeditated and was a “single act of stupidity” by a young man attempting to remove himself from a tense situation.

The court was told Kyrgios shoved Passari, who was preventing him from leaving her Canberra apartment.

“I do not record a conviction against your name, I do not find any necessity to place you on a good behaviour bond,” Campbell said.

Kyrgios had hobbled into court in Canberra with a pair of crutches and a brace on his knee, after suffering a “gruesome” injury that sidelined him at last month’s Australian Open.

He was flanked by his current girlfriend Costeen Hatzi, an interior designer, and his mother Norlaila.

Canberra-born Kyrgios, known for his mercurial talent and on-court outbursts, later said “mental health is tough”.

“Life can seem overwhelming. But I’ve found that getting help and working on myself has helped me to feel better and to be better,” his statement read.

The case was adjourned in October, as Kyrgios prepared to play the Japan Open, so experts could produce mental health reports for the court.

“There’s only so much I can control and I’m taking all the steps and dealing with that off the court,” Kyrgios said from Tokyo at the time.

Currently ranked 20th in the world, Kyrgios featured prominently in the first episode of Netflix’s new Break Point tennis documentary.

“I now plan to focus on recovering from injury and moving forward in the best way possible,” he said.

The fan favourite won the Australian Open men’s doubles crown with close friend Thanasi Kokkinakis last year but was ruled out of this year’s tournament before playing a match.

His manager Daniel Horsfall said he had recently undergone surgery to remove a cyst inside his knee.

“The surgery went great, to be honest, we couldn’t have asked for a better result,” he told radio station SEN.

“He might be recovering faster than what we were expecting, so it’s good news.”

Kyrgios burst into fame as a 19-year-old in 2014, when he shocked the tennis world by beating Rafael Nadal to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.

Often criticised for squandering his talents, Kyrgios reached the final of last year’s Wimbledon but was comprehensively beaten by Novak Djokovic.

Due to a thigh injury, Kylian Mbappe of Paris St. Germain will miss the opening leg of his team's Champions League matchup against Bayern Munich.

The France attacker is sidelined for three weeks after suffering an injury in Wednesday's 3-1 victory against Montpellier.

The 24-year-old had a terrible night, missing two penalties and an easy goal before being taken off after 21 minutes.

The German champions will visit PSG on February 14.

Mbappe will also miss his team's games against Marseille in the French Cup on February 8 and Monaco in Ligue 1 three days later.

In 26 games this season, the forward has scored 25 goals for his team.

Germany hosts the second match against Bayern on March 8.

Gabriel Martinelli, a striker for Arsenal, has agreed to a new, long-term deal.

The 21-year-old international from Brazil, Ituano, arrived in the summer of 2019 and has played in 111 matches across all competitions.

This season, he has been a constant in the Premier League, scoring seven goals to help the Gunners go five points ahead atop the standings.

"Gabi is still very young, so we know there's still much more to come from him," said manager Mikel Arteta.

"Our supporters see his quality and energy every single time he puts on the shirt and he's the same every day in training, with his hard work and positive values.

"We're now excited to continue to develop his huge talent and look forward to seeing him perform with Arsenal in the years to come."

Martinelli made eight appearances for the Brazil U23 side before making his senior debut in March 2022.

He was part of the Brazil squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, making two appearances as the Selecao reached the quarter-finals.