Tyson Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, said it had been one of the best weeks of his career as a boxing promoter. He has been involved in the business for over forty years, since his first licensed show at the Bloomsbury Quest Hotel in London in 1980.
The founder of Queensbury Promotions said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that December 23rd was originally reserved for Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. With Fury’s fight against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou being more challenging than expected, Warren said the Gypsy King needs some extra time to recover before fighting for the undisputed heavyweight crown.
Warren then had the unenviable task of working with twelve other promoters to assemble a brand-new card at relatively short notice. They managed to pull it off with the recent announcement of Deontay Wilder vs. Joseph Parker and Anthony Joshua vs. Otto Wallin in a card dubbed ‘Day of Reckoning.’
Warren on Fury vs. Ngannou
‘I find it difficult sometimes with people, especially some of the media and critics, that they immediately say, ‘Oh, this is a knock-over.’ There’s no boxing footage, there was no video footage to look at of Ngannou in a ring. All we could look at was him in an MMA match in the UFC. When I looked at that, I could see that he was a tough guy, he’s a big competitor, he’s strong.
Warren said that he didn’t want Tyson Fury to get into clinches with Francis Ngannou as ‘The Predator’ was used to dealing with this from his days in the UFC. Ngannou’s ability surprised Warren on the night, and the veteran boxing promoter said that his skills were evident from the first bell as he noticed Ngannou was displaying a proper boxing stance, as opposed to typical MMA fighters who make the crossover to boxing who tend to adopt a squarer stance.
Helwani asked Fury’s promoter if fans would get to see a rematch between him and Ngannou after Fury’s fight with Oleksandr Usyk in February, and Warren said that nothing was off the table:
”I think there’s a good chance of that happening. Let’s get the big one out of the way first (Usyk fight.) Tyson told me that he wants the rematch, and I know Ngannou wants it. He’s (Ngannou) a really nice guy with a good team around him, and I’m sure we’ll do it again.”
Pay-per-view numbers were reportedly poor for the Fury and Ngannou event in Saudi Arabia. Warren attributes this to the negative press the bout received in the build-up because most people expected it would be a pushover for Fury. While numbers may not have been great, the fight generated mass attention, particularly in the aftermath, with both hardcore and casual boxing fans salivating at the prospect of a rematch between the two.
Discussion about this post