WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury appears to be losing patience regarding a potential heavyweight title fight with fellow gold holder, Oleksandr Usyk – once more placing a deadline on the bout, and claiming he will draw former UFC heavyweight best, Francis Ngannou next, if an agreement cannot be met.
Fury, the current undisputed WBC heavyweight champion, has yet to return to the squared circle since he defeated three-time foe, Derek Chisora in a dominant tenth round TKO win over the veteran in December of last year.
In the time since, however, the Morecambe native has been linked continually with a title grudge match against Ukrainian champion, Usyk – however, despite ongoing negotiations between both camps, an agreement between Fury and the latter has yet to be struck.
Amid the aforenoted, Ngannou’s official departure from the UFC following the completion of his contractual obligations, the Cameroon native has been mentioned as a possible next opponent for Fury – particularly in hybrid-rules matchup.
Tyson Fury slaps deadline on negotiations for Oleksandr Usyk fight
And according to Fury, the British heavyweight champion has issued another month deadline for the fight with Usyk to come to fruition, before he switches lanes and offers to fight Ngannou next.
“I’m hoping so, I’m very much hoping so,” Tyson Fury said about scoring a fight with Francis Ngannou this year during an interview with Give Me Sport. “Because if (Oleksandr) Usyk doesn’t happen like this month coming, then I’m going to say, right then, let’s move on and do Francis Ngannou.”
“And I’m looking to get Francis in a cage with 4oz gloves on and throw down with him, swinging some big bombs,” Tyson Fury explained. “It’s risky because Francis, at one point, was considered the biggest puncher in combat sports. So with 4oz gloves on, all it takes is one punch and it’s all over.”
Sidelined since January of last year, renowned knockout artist, Ngannou headlined UFC 270 on that occasion, successfully unifying the heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision win over the then-undefeated, Ciryl Gane.