“When they start announcing, ‘Oh, there’s a rematch clause!’ It’s like the first fight is not important, it’s what happens in the second fight.”
Tyson Fury hates rematch clauses.
Fortunately for the “Gypsy King,” he’s never been in a position to need one. The reigning WBC heavyweight champion remains undefeated at 33-0 (24 KOs) with one draw. And it sounds like Fury doesn’t plan on breaking that streak when he battles former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou on Oct. 28 in Riyadh.
“As we stand today, there’s no rematch clause either way,” Fury told The MMA Hour. “So if he knocks me out cold on Saturday night, I’ll have to be begging him like this, ‘Please give me a rematch!’ I hate rematch clauses. Rematch clauses have tied my career up for so long and cost me millions of dollars in court cases. I always say, we don’t need a rematch [clause]. If the first fight is good, then both participants would surely want a rematch. If it’s a sh*t fight, then it’s not deserving of a rematch.”
Fury vs. Ngannou, which streams live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV), is a 10-round, non-title exhibition bout and will mark the “sweet science” debut for the 0-0 Ngannou. No question a loss for the 35 year-old Fury would turn the boxing world upside down and put “The Predator” in a position to secure a rematch. Not to speak for anyone on Team Ngannou, but running it back gives the former UFC champ an opportunity to win the WBC title and double (or perhaps even triple) his Oct. 28 payday.
“Obviously I know why, it’s the double payday,” Fury continued. “But they go into the first fight and they already announce, ‘Oh there’s a rematch clause.’ So it takes all the emphasis off the first fight. No one cares about the first fight. ‘Oh sh*t, there’s a rematch clause, let’s see who wins the second fight, that’s the one that really counts.’ It was one of the stumbling points for me and (Oleksandr) Usyk last time. They were desperate for a rematch clause. I said, ‘It’s the fight of the century, why the f*ck does it need a rematch clause?’ Let the winner go home with all the belts and let the loser go home with his d*ck in his hands. They didn’t want to do it. It was just as risky for me as it was for them.”
To see who else is fighting at Fury vs. Ngannou this weekend in Riyadh click here.