Tyson Fury is expecting rival Anthony Joshua to have any easier time of it against Francis Ngannou than he did.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou, 37, will be having just his second professional boxing bout against England’s Joshua, 34, following his 10-round split decision loss to Fury in their non-title bout last October. Joshua and Ngannou will clash at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on tonight.
“I am expecting AJ to win, for sure. He’s a boxer, isn’t he? A former two-time world champion,” Fury said during an interview with IFL TV.
“I wouldn’t go on my fight at all. It’s a totally different fight, and styles make fights. I didn’t have a good performance, as we all know, it was a piece of s*** from me.
“I’m not complaining, things happen in life and you get on with them.”
Fury suggested that his poor performance flattered Ngannou, who he thinks is a tough, but not particularly talented boxer after their back-and-forth bout last year.
Meanwhile, Ngannou put Tyson Fury in his place at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference for his looming bout with Anthony Joshua.
After Ngannou and Fury got into a heated verbal exchange Tuesday night at Turki Al-Sheikh’s residence, the tension between the pair continued during the pre-fight press conference. Fury was seated front row and was heckling while Ngannou answered questions. and that prompted the former UFC heavyweight champ to issue a fiery response.
Ngannou reminded Fury that he was the only one to score a knockdown in their October bout, which Fury won by controversial split decision. Ngannou expects to run it back one day, and when he does, he doesn’t intend to leave anything to chance.
“I had the first one over him, and I still need to have the second one – it’s true,” Ngannou said. “You’re going to sleep in the (ring) again, and I’m going to wipe the ring with your ass again. You wiped the ring with your ass. There was blood in the ring, sticking to your pants.”
As the exchange continued, Ngannou reminded Fury that the only reason he has confidence is because any fights between them will be under boxing rules. If it were to take place under almost any other combat rule set, Ngannou said it would get very ugly.
“I’ll tell you: Your only chance is in the boxing ring with the boxing rules,” Ngannou said. “When you step out of that ring, you better stay five meters away before you talk your sh*t, because if I lose it, you’re going to have a real bad time, my friend. So, respect the fact boxing is protecting us and the rule of boxing is protecting us, because without that, you are nothing in front of me. I’ll beat you every day – twice on Sunday.”
Yet Daniel Mark Hardy, English former mixed martial artist who fought in the welterweight division, has warned that the former world champion, Joshua, could ‘psychologically unravel’ under pressure on fight night.
In just the second fight of his professional boxing career, the former UFC champion takes on Joshua in Saudi Arabia having dragged Fury into deep waters on his debut six months ago.
A monstrous left hook put ‘The Gypsy King’ down in the third round, with Fury climbing back up to his feet to continue. Despite heavy pressure from the Cameroonian, a battered and bruised Fury sealed a narrow split decision win.
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