Francis Ngannou’s coach, Dewey Cooper, revealed a rules proposal for the upcoming match against the British heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury.
A match between the best heavyweight boxer and the mixed martial artist in the world will likely happen soon. Tyson Fury invited Ngannou to the ring during his post-match interview, after he defeated Dillian Whyte. However, their match has to wait for the UFC heavyweight champion’s contract to expire in December this year.
Recently, Ngannou’s coach, Dewey Cooper, appeared on the Schmozone Podcast. He was being asked many questions about the potential hybrid match. When talking about the hybrid match, Cooper proposed the ideal ruleset according to himself.
“Boxing fight, MMA gloves, but 8 oz MMA gloves in a cage. Not to be an Octagon, has to be a cage — we meet halfway. 8 oz MMA gloves like the puffy ones guys spar in and make it a boxing fight. But you can’t clinch.” Cooper explained.
He added, “Dirty boxing is legal. Basically, like the bare knuckle boxing rules, just with 8 oz MMA gloves and a cage. The match will be like a normal boxing match which will give Fury the advantage, while the smaller boxing gloves like 8 oz will give Ngannou the advantage.”
“That way, it’s not completely a boxing fight, it’s not completely an MMA fight. It’s like somewhere, a 65-35 boxer because it’s still more boxing because you can’t kick, knee or take him down. And we’ll see if Tyson still has the same energy, if he’s willing to exchange punches with a power puncher like Francis Ngannou with those little gloves on.” Cooper said.
“The boxing gloves can save people a little bit. The smaller those gloves get, the realer sh*t gets when it comes to getting hit. I think it would be great.” Cooper added.
Even though Fury’s appearance in the ring last weekend successfully hyped the potential match, their match has to wait for the UFC heavyweight champion’s contract to expire in December this year. Not to mention that Ngannou is currently in rehab after undergoing knee surgery.