The upcoming fight between the former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Francis Ngannou, and the WBC Heavyweight Champion, Tyson Fury, raised a lot of eyebrows when it was announced last week. Ngannou shed more light on the upcoming crossover bout scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia.
Ngannou’s negotiations
Although the announcement was made last week, the fight has been confirmed for around one month. Ngannou told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour that negotiations went smoothly and only took two weeks to finalize. The fight had been brewing since Ngannou entered the ring following Fury’s victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April 2022.
Ngannou was open to fighting other top boxers and was in discussions to fight Deontay Wilder; however, negotiations hit a wall as the ‘Bronze Bomber’ wants to fight Anthony Joshua later this year in Saudi Arabia. Ngannou then turned his attention to finalizing a deal with ‘The Gypsy King’ instead.
Helwani asked the former UFC heavyweight champion if he thought those in the upper echelons of the fight business were trying to discredit Ngannou’s foray into the boxing world, and he seemed to agree. Ngannou mentioned how the UFC president Dana White called his boxing venture a ‘gimmick’ but then tried to schedule a fight between Tyson Fury and Jon Jones soon afterward.
Helwani then suggested that negative publicity around a Francis Ngannou fight could be a result of Ngannou’s desire to work without a promoter, possibly leaving the likes of Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn feeling left out in the sense that they won’t be involved in this mega-fight. ‘The Predator’ is happy to go alone and use the opportunity to build his ‘GIMIK Fight Promotions.’
The fight isn’t an exhibition
Ngannou denied that the fight with Tyson Fury wasn’t an exhibition fight, confirming that it would count on their professional records. Unfortunately, due to the politics within the boxing world, the fight will not be for the WBC heavyweight title currently held by Fury. Such negotiations would have involved governing bodies and been too time-consuming; Ngannou just wanted to get the fight made.
Stopping short of committing to the earnings Ngannou will make for the fight with Fury, ‘The Predator’ did say that the figure will be life-changing and considerably more than he made during his entire UFC career. He criticized the deal offered to him by the UFC, suggesting that the figure offered to him came with stipulations that didn’t guarantee him the number (a rumored $8 million per fight) which was written on the contract.
Should a huge upset occur on October 28, Ngannou will be contractually obligated to fight Fury again. Any rematch would have to be after his PFL debut, which is scheduled in early 2024, and the MMA organization is currently working on an opponent for ‘The Predator.’ Should Fury defeat Ngannou, there isn’t a rematch clause; there would only be one if Ngannou won the fight.
Tyson Fury V Francis Ngannou takes place on October 28 in Saudi Arabia.
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