Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury engaged in verbal sparring during the pre-fight press conference for their boxing match, with each fighter claiming they could also beat the other in an MMA fight while teasing a potential future bout in the cage.
Francis Ngannou is well aware that he’ll be the underdog in his boxing match against Tyson Fury on Oct. 28. During a pre-fight press colloquium, however, Ngannou noted that if the rematch was to take place in MMA, the roles would be drastically reversed. Tyson Fury, not surprisingly, begs to differ. He maintains he’d be victorious in both boxing and MMA, styling himself as a “fighting world champion” in the same vein as Ngannou. This assertion prompted some playful retort from Ngannou, who insisted that Fury’s fighting abilities are “very limited.”
Ngannou went on to stoke the flames by suggesting a possible MMA fight, eliciting a rather impassioned response from Fury. In a defiant rant, Fury asserted that not only would he beat Ngannou in a boxing ring, but he’d also come out victorious if they met in an MMA cage. He confidently announced to Ngannou and everyone else in attendance, “I think I could beat you in a cage. I would kick your ass in a cage, no problem. I’ll beat you in a boxing ring and then I’ll kick your ass in a cage. 100 percent. I’ll beat you at boxing, and I’ll beat you in a cage. No problem. I’ll beat him at boxing and I’ll beat him at a cage fight, no two ways about it.”
Fury’s verbal sally was met with an amused smile from Ngannou. He warned the heavyweight champ about the ramifications of such a challenge, advising him to focus solely on boxing for now. When it came to discussing their upcoming boxing match, Fury acknowledged Ngannou’s most formidable weapon: his “nuclear option” that packs a devastating punch. Ngannou’s record during his UFC career speaks volumes; he’s ended fights with single heavy blows, most notoriously when he floored Alistair Overeem with an uppercut. The prospect doesn’t seem to intimidate Fury, however, who pointed out that he’s faced powerful punchers in his boxing career including Deontay Wilder, and emerged unscathed.
Fury even went so far as to call himself “bulletproof”. He dismissed the threats as fighters’ typical bluster, expressing only warm wishes for Ngannou’s training camp. His final punchy comment was: “Bring your A-game, and let’s have a fight. Let’s have a f****** fight. That’s what we’re being paid to do.” Ngannou, on the other hand, shied away from focusing exclusively on landing that knockout punch. He argued that such a strategy would only set him up for failure in a 12-round boxing match. However, he did assure that if he landed a punch with full force, Fury would not be getting back up. “If it does land? Goodnight. Lights off,” Ngannou quipped.