Tyson Fury may have retired following his devastating knockout win over Dillian Whyte earlier today (Sat., April 23, 2022) live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from London, England, but “Gypsy King” is already lining up a crossover fight with reigning UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Fury, who looked as good as ever during his homecoming victory over Whyte, was expecting to retire from boxing entering the heavyweight title fight. The now-former undefeated heavyweight champion was always on board to do a crossover fight, but fight fans didn’t know the wheels would start churning immediately after his retirement speech.
Fury was joined by Ngannou himself at the end of his post-fight interview and the two announced their plans for a “hybrid fight” inside of the boxing ring. The proposed matchup would consist of both fighters wearing MMA gloves and possibly some other unique rules.
Check out the post-fight madness below:
Fury and Ngannou talk hybrid fight.#FuryvsWhyte pic.twitter.com/KaBgGW1Ckb
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) April 23, 2022
“He’s a great champion. He’s in great shape. Look at the muscles on him,” said Fury.
“We’re going to find out who is the baddest mother f—ker on the planet,” interjected Ngannou.
“This is going to be one very special fight like never before seen in the history of our sport,” Fury later added. “We’re not talking two light guys, 140 pounds. I’m 270 pounds, he’s 270 pounds. It’s going to be an explosive fight when it happens.”
“It’s going to be a hybrid fight with different type of rules,” further explained Ngannou. “MMA gloves in the ring to kind of mix up something a little different.”
It’s great to see Fury and Ngannou joining forces to stage one of the biggest combat clashes of all time, but there are a few factors currently stopping this “hybrid fight” from happening. The first one is Ngannou’s injured knee that he suffered prior to his title defense over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. He’ll need to fully recover before trying to take out the best heavyweight boxer in the world. The second is the fact that even though Ngannou is currently not under contract with UFC he would have to vacate his heavyweight title if he were to jump over to boxing.
However, if UFC played ball they could stand to make a pretty penny by co-promoting the crossover spectacle, much like they did for Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor.
For complete ‘Fury vs. Whyte” results and coverage click HERE.