Team Fury has made sure there’s no chance Ngannou catches him with a lucky punch and then walks away from boxing without a second fight going down.
If Francis Ngannou does shock the combat sports world (again) and knockout Tyson Fury in their monster crossover boxing bout set for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 28, 2023, he’ll have to do it again before being done with “The Gypsy King.”
During a recent interview on The MMA Hour, Ngannou confirmed that there was a rematch clause in their contract to box in Saudi Arabia this fall … although it sounds like it only applies if “The Predator” wins.
“Yeah, there’s a potential rematch clause,” Ngannou said. “I don’t know exactly how to explain that language, but yes, there is a rematch inside it. For [if I win], definitely. But [if he wins], that’s what I don’t know. We will see how it goes. That’s why I have to win this fight. I have to do everything to get that rematch.”
That news may frustrate mixed martial arts (MMA) fans who just want to see Ngannou ply his trade in a cage rather than a ring. But, Ngannou claims it won’t affect the current scheduling of his first Professional Fighters League (PFL) fight, set for the first quarter of 2024.
“The second [Fury] fight would be after the PFL debut,” he said. “Because the PFL fight is somewhere in the beginning of next year. Maybe in February or March of next year. I was talking with [PFL president] Pete Murray about it, and that’s the timeline.”
Let’s hope PFL has some sort of legal leverage to ensure that happens, because you know there will be immense pressure from Fury’s camp to have an immediate rematch should he lose to Ngannou this fall. And when you’re talking about the original fight being a 10-figure payday, how much would a rematch be if Ngannou clips and fells Fury?
We have a hard time imagining anyone potentially fumbling that bag to fight who knows who in PFL.
Not that this is considered a likely occurrence. Fury is a -1000 favorite, with some books having him at -1500. You never know, though, when dealing with the record-setting knockout power of Ngannou.
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