Following a lengthy contract renegotiation, Francis Ngannou left UFC. UFC president has since tried to imply Ngannou did so so he could find ‘lesser’ opponents but Ngannou is aiming for the very top of the boxing world and he’s being taken seriously.
If Francis Ngannou gets his wish and is scheduled to box Tyson Fury or Dillian Whyte he’s certainly getting a challenge.
Tyson Fury seems interested in a 4oz glove event as opposed to traditional boxing. Fury told media:
“Yeah, there is. Maybe I fight Francis Ngannou in a cage, with four ounce gloves, Queensbury rules. Bad a** referee like Mike Tyson. Who’s not going to watch that? It can happen, you know.”
When asked if he was interested in boxing against Anthony Joshua, Fury clarified it’s either Usyk or Ngannou for him:
“Not interested. Not interested. And I’m looking for the fight in a century against Usyk on if not about a spot on the planet fight against Francis Ngannou even one of them tooth that’s what I’m looking for really.”
UFC Heavyweight Tom Aspinall previously trained with Tyson Fury so he’s uniquely equipped to talk about how the two would match one against the other.
Aspinall told talkSPORT:
“I think they are good fights for PR and money and stuff. I mean, everyone has got a chance, especially with heavyweights, but I think it’s a very, very slim chance.”
“[It’s tough] when you’re boxing someone who is a specialist in just boxing, us as MMA fighters, boxing is just a small part of our game really. It is definitely a part of the game, but pure boxing is different, it’s a whole other sport on its own.”
“I definitely think it’ll be great for his career and he definitely has a chance of winning but I don’t think the chance is very big to be honest.”
After defeating Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in April of last year, Fury summoned Ngannou to the ring.
Aspinall added:
“Punching with boxing gloves and MMA gloves is completely different. The boxers are very used to the rings, obviously, because that’s all they’ve fought in, and the cage is completely different.”
“You can’t ride punches as well in a cage as you can in a ring. I mean, there’s no leaning back over the top rope in a cage, if you start leaning back you’re going to get knocked out.”
“It definitely evens it up a lot. I don’t know what they are trying to do with the rounds. If they do three five-minute rounds that will suit Ngannou as well. It definitely evens it up more than fighting in a ring with boxing gloves on.”