Francis Ngannou’s coach, Dewey Cooper, challenges John Fury to a boxing match: ‘I’d definitely take it’

Francis Ngannou's coach challenges John FuryDewey Cooper, the longtime coach of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, has challenged Tyson Fury’s father — John…

Francis Ngannou's coach challenges John Fury

Dewey Cooper, the longtime coach of former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, has challenged Tyson Fury’s father — John Fury — to a fight inside the squared circle.

Fury, 59, has been teasing a potential return to the ring for the last several months, even calling out legendary pugilist ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson for a showdown ahead of his son’s critically acclaimed crossover clash with Ngannou — whom Tyson trained — in October. Tyson largely laughed off the idea of fighting the elder Fury, but it appears as though Ngannou’s coach is more than happy to strap on the eight-ounce gloves and give it a go against Tyson’s dear ol’ dad.

“John Fury wanted to fight Mike Tyson, that’s a big fight and would make a lot of money,” Cooper said in an interview with Mirror Fighting. “I don’t blame him, why not? If he called me out, I’d definitely fight him. I’m a coach now, I’m retired from fighting but I train and I can definitely train more if I’m ignited to do such.

“I haven’t seen him fight because the only fighters I really watch are the legends that I grew up loving and the opponents of my fighters, so I can’t really say. I wouldn’t discount his ability because he’s Tyson Fury’s dad and Tyson is one of the greatest. I’m sure he can fight otherwise he wouldn’t be so confident in himself. I just need enough time to train to fight anybody, but if he wants a boxing fight I’d definitely take it. I would have crouse study him to see what he does well and try to nullify that.”

Dewey Cooper is Already in Saudi Arabia to help Francis Ngannou Prepare for his next fight

After narrowly coming up short against Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou returns to the ring on March 8 when he meets No. 1 ranked WBC heavyweight contender Anthony Joshua. Cooper along with striking coach John Mbumba are already in Saudi Arabia — the site of Ngannou vs. Joshua — to prepare his fighter for another high-stakes matchup in Riyadh.

Only once Ngannou’s fight with Joshua is in the books will Cooper offer John Fury any further attention.

“I have a commitment to my fighters like very few fighters, I don’t sleep at night,” he added. “I’ll train them all day, two or three in morning whatever they want to do. I’m willing to sacrifice my body for my fighters and there is no bigger sacrifice than what I do with Francis, he hurts me often. Everyday I’m there ready for him to work, so that’s my dedication and my commitment.”

Francis Ngannou’s back was against the wall going into Ciryl Gane fight: ‘I thought man, we’re in trouble’

NgannouLegendary coach Dewey Cooper revealed that confidence was at an all-time low in the weeks leading up to Francis Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane last year. ‘The Predator’ has dominated headlines over the last few weeks following the announcement that he had signed on the dotted line with the Professional Fighters League. […]

Ngannou

Legendary coach Dewey Cooper revealed that confidence was at an all-time low in the weeks leading up to Francis Ngannou’s UFC heavyweight title defense against Ciryl Gane last year.

‘The Predator’ has dominated headlines over the last few weeks following the announcement that he had signed on the dotted line with the Professional Fighters League. Ngannou revealed details of his ground-breaking contract which will guarantee himself and his future opponents a multi-million dollar payday along with a slew of other perks that will serve to benefit the mixed martial arts community as a whole. Needless to say, things are going great for the former heavyweight champion. But if you asked members of his team how things were looking just before his first and only title defense against Ciryl Gane, the situation would have seemed undeniably dire.

Speaking with John Morgan of MMA Underground, Dewey Cooper revealed that everything was going according to plan until Francis Ngannou blew out his knee three weeks before his scheduled scrap at UFC 270. With no contract in place, a brutal injury, and a high-stakes matchup on the horizon, Cooper admitted that everyone on the team was bearing down for the absolute worst.

Dewey Cooper Says Francis Ngannou Was Ready to Accept the Consequences of Losing to Ciryl Gane

“There’s a certain profoundness in having the courage to step off that cliff. Because you could die from that fall, or you could be lifted to astronomical levels,” Cooper said. “Going into that Ciryl Gane fight, Francis looked spectacular in the gym, I’ve talked about it many times. I was like, Francis is gonna kill someone – he destroys his knee three weeks out.

“Everyone, myself, coach Eric, Marquel, everyone, was saying man, this is your last fight, you refused to sign your restructured new contract, you are crazy to take this fight. If you lose you’re gonna get banished and you’re gonna get lowballed. Francis knew the repercussions of losing. In all actuality, with the injury he had, success went from 100% to, I don’t wanna say the percentage, but it wasn’t very high!

“I believed in him but I thought man, we’re in trouble,” Cooper admitted. “Anyway, for him to still get a multimillion-dollar offer a few days before the fight, which most people would’ve signed right there… For Francis not to sign, take that fight and win it the way he won it, and to then take a year off because of the championship clause, it’s crazy. But guess what? All of his thoughts on what he wanted were bigger than the money, man” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Francis Ngannou is expected to make his Smart Cage debut in 2024. Before then, ‘The Predator’ has his sights set on trying his hand at the sweet science before 2023 comes to a close. When, where and against who is yet to be determined, but Ngannou insists that a fight inside the squared circle will happen whether it be against a big name like Tyson Fury or a tune-up fight ahead of his return to MMA.

Francis Ngannou to come back better than ever says coach Dewey Cooper: “Better, stronger, more athletic, more everything.”

francis ngannouCoach of Francis Ngannou, Dewey Cooper, says to expect the best version of the heavyweight we have ever seen. It seems it is nearing the time of the return of Ngannou, who has not competed since his January 22nd fight against Ciryl Gane following a knee injury. It seemed for a while, that we might […]

francis ngannou

Coach of Francis Ngannou, Dewey Cooper, says to expect the best version of the heavyweight we have ever seen.

It seems it is nearing the time of the return of Ngannou, who has not competed since his January 22nd fight against Ciryl Gane following a knee injury.

It seemed for a while, that we might not see ‘The Predator’ back in the Octagon, after a public spat with the UFC over pay. While we have not seen Ngannou compete regularly over the past few years, his fights are always held some reverence with the heavyweight’s almost inhuman power.

Ngannou’s coach and former fighter, Cooper, was excited at the prospect of the heavyweight’s return, tipping Ngannou for a big 2023.

This version of Francis will be better than the last version of Francis before he injured the knee. It’s going to be something that’s galactic,” Cooper said. “We’re expecting Francis to be better, stronger, more athletic, more everything. He expects the same thing, so it’s definitely going to happen.”

“Whenever something is smart and official, we’ll make sure that we do the right things to have him at his very best. 2023, we’ve got some big, big things ahead.” (H/T MMAweekly)

Francis Ngannou and his coaching discuss his return from injury via his YouTube

Francis Ngannou Vs.  Jon Jones

It’s expected that Ngannou will make the second defense of his title against all-time great, Jon Jones.

The former light-heavyweight champion has long spoken of a trip up to heavyweight and has seemingly been in training for it for the past few years. Jones won’t just step up and fight any heavyweight, he will jump right into the deep end to face one of the most devastating knockout artists the promotion has ever seen.

If made, the fight will be one of the biggest of recent memory and could prove to be a pivotal point in the history of the UFC.

Who will win, Francis Ngannou or Jon Jones?

Coach Lays Out Special Ruleset For Potential Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou Clash

Tyson FuryLongtime Xtreme Couture coach, Dewey Cooper has laid out a special ruleset for a potential boxing match featuring his student, current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, and minted WBC heavyweight best, Tyson Fury. Headlining a monumental event at Wembley Stadium last night in London, England – Manchester heavyweight, Tyson Fury successfully defended his WBC heavyweight […]

Tyson Fury

Longtime Xtreme Couture coach, Dewey Cooper has laid out a special ruleset for a potential boxing match featuring his student, current UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou, and minted WBC heavyweight best, Tyson Fury.

Headlining a monumental event at Wembley Stadium last night in London, England – Manchester heavyweight, Tyson Fury successfully defended his WBC heavyweight title against challenger, Dillian Whyte – scoring a massive sixth round uppercut knockout win

Following the bout, Tyson Fury, who had insisted prior to the event’s headliner that he would be retiring post-fight, was met in the squared circle by UFC heavyweight titleholder, Ngannou – with the pair teasing a future showdown amid months of speculation of a sports crossover bout between the duo. 

Tyson Fury insisted he has no interest in fights with Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua in the future

For Ngannou, the Batie native headlined UFC 270 most recently back in January, defeating interim champion, Ciryl Gane with a five round unanimous decision win over the Frenchman to successfully unify the heavyweight thrones.

In the time since, however, Ngannou – who completed his contractual obligations with January’s judging win over Gane, has welcomed a move to professional boxing, explaining how he had dreamt of entering the squared circle. 

Yet to pen terms on a new deal with the organization following the completion of his contractual obligations, Ngannou underwent a surgical procedure to address an ACL tear suffered in the weeks leading to his bout with Gane, and is expected to be sidelined until November at the very earliest. An interim title is also expected to be introduced to the heavyweight division in Ngannou’s absence once more. 

Talking up the potential terms and ruleset for a matchup of Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury, the above mentioned striking coach, Cooper, laid out a brief idea of what sort of hybrid ruleset he would like to see the possible future foray contested under.

“Good ol’ boxing, there ain’t nothing like a 12 round fight, I can tell you that,” Dewey Cooper told The Schmo recently. “Boxing fight, MMA gloves – but instead of four-ounce, eight-ounce MMA gloves in a cage. Don’t have to be in an Octagon, but in a cage. We meet halfway – instead of a ring, we put it in a cage. Eight-ounce MMA gloves on, like the puffy ones guys spar in. And make it a boxing fight, but you can clinch, you can clinch. Straight hands – dirty boxings legal.”

“Basically just the bare knuckle boxing rules, just with eight-ounce MMA gloves in a cage,” Cooper said. “That way, it’s not completely a boxing fight, it’s not completely a mixed martial arts fight, it’s like somewhere — it’s 65-35 (percent) boxer, you know what I mean. ‘Cause, it’s still more boxing, you can’t kick, knee or take them down. And we’ll see if Tyson (Fury) still has that same energy if he’s willing to exchange punches with him – with power puncher like Francis Ngannou with those little gloves on.”