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Francis Ngannou shocked the boxing world in 2023 despite suffering a controversial loss to Tyson Fury, but “The Gypsy King” insists he never trained for the bout.
When Fury was booked for an exhibition boxing match against Fury, the outcome was basically a foregone conclusion to boxing experts. In fact, many expected Fury to let “The Predator” hang around before ultimately finishing him. Things played out far differently, as it was the former UFC Heavyweight Champion who dropped Fury during their match.
The bout was far more competitive than most were anticipating, but Fury edged out the split decision win. Nearly three full years later, Fury told ALF Global that he didn’t take the fight seriously enough to train (h/t MMAFighting).
“No, I didn’t not train for him because I didn’t think he was a good fighter,” Fury said. “I knew he was a good fighter, but to me it’s levels to boxing. So if I’m fighting a world champion, then in my mind, he’s a world champion, everything’s good. But when you do an exhibition fight, play, it wasn’t really a fight, do you understand what I’m saying. It wasn’t, in my mind, a fight, it’s just an exhibition, a game.
“To him, to Ngannou, it was, ‘Aaaah, big fight, I fight Tyson Fury!’ To me, it was play, a game, you know what I mean?”
The success Ngannou found in his bout with Fury did not carry over for his clash with Anthony Joshua in March 2024. He ended up suffering a second-round knockout loss to the former heavyweight champion. Ngannou hasn’t stepped back inside the boxing ring since, but he has returned to MMA to score two devastating knockout wins over Renan Ferreira and Philipe Lins.
As for Fury, he has gone 2-0 since losing two title fights against Oleksandr Usyk. The surefire future International Boxing Hall of Famer took a unanimous decision victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov back in April, and he followed that up with a TKO finish over Mariusz Wach in July.
Do you think Tyson Fury was truly unprepared for Francis Ngannou, or is this an excuse for his performance? Sound off in the comments below.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM