Things got intense between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury during a pre-fight press event in Riyadh.
On Friday, March 8, ‘The Predator’ will make his sophomore appearance inside the squared circle when he meets the WBC’s top-ranked heavyweight contender, Anthony Joshua. With the bout mere hours away, both fighters took center stage for a press conference at Kingdom Arena on Wednesday.
During his time on the mic, Ngannou made it clear that once he handles some business with Joshua, a rematch with Tyson Fury will be the top priority.
“He will be the best so far, but I’m just getting started,” said Ngannou. “I’m looking for the victory on Friday, I don’t think it will be a statement because the road is still long. I want one more over Tyson, because I had the first one over him and I intend to have a second!”
Fury, who was in the crowd, shouted something back at Ngannou which elicited a fiery response from the former UFC heavyweight champion.
“I’m going to wipe the ring with your a** again – there was blood in the ring!” Ngannou added. Your only chance is in the boxing ring with boxing rules, when you step out the ring you better stay five metres away because if I lose it, you’ll have a really bad time my friend.
“Respect the fact boxing rules are protecting you, because you are nothing in front of me. I’ll beat you every day, twice on Sunday!”
Francis Ngannou just COOKED Tyson Fury in the crowd at the presser
pic.twitter.com/VGaLPyxUWc
— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) March 6, 2024
Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury went 10 rounds in October 2023 with ‘The Gypsy King’ walking away the victor via a very close and downright questionable split decision. Despite the loss, Ngannou was praised by the pundits for his performance, which included a third-round knockdown of Fury. The showing also landed him at No. 10 in the WBC heavyweight rankings, setting the stage for his high-stakes clash with Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua goes into the bout with a 27-3 record, 24 of those wins coming by way of knockout. After suffering back-to-back losses against Oleksandr Usyk, Joshua has won three in a row against Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, and Otto Wallin.