Fury’s promoter Frank Warren revealed that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is their backup plan should a deal to fight Usyk not come together.
The fight to make in the heavyweight boxing world right now is Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk for all the alphabet soup world titles. But if a deal can’t be reached soon, Tyson Fury has let his promoter Frank Warren know that he wants former UFC champion Francis Ngannou.
Fury and Usyk’s teams are currently at work trying to strike a deal that will see WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Fury fight IBF, WBA, WBO, and The Ring heavyweight champion Usyk sometime in late March or early April. In a recent interview with Seconds Out, Frank Warren said he was feeling ‘very positive’ a deal would be reached as both fighters wanted the bout.
But he did add that Tyson Fury had approached him and said Francis Ngannou was the man to fight should Oleksandr Usyk not sign on the dotted line.
“We’re continuing lots of talks. We’re all pretty positive, very positive about [Fury vs. Usky],” Warren said. “We’re just getting a few things sorted out and then we can make an announcement.”
As for Fury’s interest in Ngannou?
“That’s an option that Tyson’s mentioned to me if this fight falls through,” he replied. “But I don’t think it will fall through.”
“I’ve never seen the guy [Ngannou] in the ring,” Warren admitted. “But yeah, you never say no to anything these days, do you? If it’s a fight I think my man can win, I’ll take it. And I’m certain Tyson could beat any of those guys in the UFC heavyweights.”
“[Usyk] is what we’re working on. But we’ve got an open mind.”
Chatter between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury died down for months while “The Predator” was still under contract with the UFC. Now that Ngannou is legally free and clear, “The Gypsy King” is back to calling Ngannou out in televised interviews.
“Francis Ngannou, I know you’re out contract with the UFC,” he said during a Sky Sports interview. “You want to earn some big boy money come see the ‘Gypsy King’ and let’s do a big, big fight for the baddest M.F. on the planet. Let’s kick it up spicy in a cage, four-ounce gloves, under Queensbury, and let’s have a bad-ass referee like ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson.”
It may not be the most competitive fight, but it’s certainly big enough to make us pay attention. What do you think of Ngannou vs. Fury in a cage with four-ounce gloves, Maniacs?