Heavyweight boxing icon Tyson Fury presented Francis Ngannou with a challenge that Chael Sonnen believes is perhaps the “dumbest idea in sports history.”
Francis Ngannou recently walked away from the UFC, leaving behind his heavyweight title and a contract that would have made him the highest-paid heavyweight in the promotion’s 30-year history. Eager to test his mettle in the world of boxing, ‘The Predator’ has been long-rumored for a bout with heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury. ‘The Gypsy King’ added fuel to the fire by challenging Ngannou but not to any old boxing match.
“Francis Ngannou, I know you’re out of contract with the UFC,” Fury told SecondsOut Boxing on Saturday. “You want to earn some big boy money? Come and see ‘The Gypsy King’ and let’s do a big, big fight for the baddest MF on the planet. Let’s kick it up, spicy, in a cage, four-ounce gloves, under Queensberry, and let’s have a badass referee like ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. Oh, did I just sell that to the world?’”
@Tyson_Fury challenges MMA superstar @francis_ngannou to a battle in the cage, with @MikeTyson as referee!
— Seconds Out Boxing (@SecondsOutLive) January 21, 2023
Chael Sonnen Left Dumbfounded by Tyson Fury’s Confusing Challenge
Lending his thoughts on Tyson Fury’s callout and subsequent challenge, Chael Sonnen was left dumbfounded. The former three-time UFC title challenger addressed Fury’s callout of ‘The Predator’ during a recent episode of his Beyond The Fight series on YouTube.
“I see Tyson Fury come out over the weekend and finally clear up first what we’re going to do first with Francis,” Sonnen said. “They’ve always said they’re going to make up a sport. These two were going to do a game, but they were going to do something combat related. For reasons unknown, they weren’t going to box. Francis offered to box, and for reasons unknown, Tyson did not accept that invitation, and they were going to make up rules.
“Tyson finally laid out for us what they are. They were going to fight in a cage. I have no idea why. They’re going to fight in a cage. OK, fine. They’re going to wear four-once gloves. I have no idea why, but OK, fine. They are then going to follow boxing rules, the rules of Queensbury. …
“I put this out there because of how disappointing it is to see these boxers as beggers. Guys that are hot to fight to go out there and get it on your own, that have physical capabilities that other men can only dream of. But they don’t know how to go out there and get it on their own. They just don’t know how. I bring it to you because to watch Tyson Fury beg, it was surprising. I don’t want to call it disappointing. It was really close to calling it that, but I don’t want to call it that. So Tyson comes to us with perhaps the dumbest idea in sports history, perhaps. He knows it is.”
What did you think of Tyson Fury’s unique callout of Francis Ngannou?