Tyson Fury has confirmed the details over a future fight with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, despite claims he will retire.
Fury is getting ready for a first heavyweight world title defence in Britain, when he takes on Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April, his first fight his home country since the comeback win against Sefer Seferi in 2018.
It took ages for the fight to be finally confirmed, which it was last week, and then the first press conference to promote it took place earlier this week.
Whilst you'd expect the challenger to turn up, the champion was actually left on his own and during the questions ended up confirming that Whyte would be his last fight.
Advert
Fury claimed he would 'fully retire' after facing his fellow British heavyweight, but it seems that 'fully' doesn't include a fight with UFC champ Ngannou, with the Gypsy King going as far as confirming details and rules to take on the Cameroonian.
"I don't class that as a real boxing fight. That's going to be a special fight," the 33-year-old told the MMA Hour, presumably why he can 'retire' and still have it.
"That will be in a cage with 4oz gloves in Las Vegas at the Raiders Stadium.
"He's a big guy; a big dangerous guy. People say it's not a fair fight in 10oz gloves and that's correct, because like [former UFC champion] Daniel Cormier said, Ngannou is a much cruder version of Deontay Wilder and we all know what happened there.
Advert
"So if we do it in 4oz gloves then he has more chance of knocking me out but I have a better chance of knocking him out also so it makes for an exciting fight. I will come in at my heaviest for that fight, I will be 300lb so that I can nail him to the canvas."
Fury's claims about his retirement hang huge questions over his future, especially as it would mean not fighting for a unified title, against either Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, or anyone else.
The undefeated boxer's future isn't the only one in question though, with Ngannou only having one fight left on his contract with UFC, after defeating Cyril Gane to retain his title in January.
Advert
After the win he spoke about his desire to go into boxing at some point in his career, and Fury believes neither man will still hold a belt when they fight, potentially next year.
"He won't be the UFC champion anymore, I won't be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore, but I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can't take that from me," the undefeated boxer added.
"It's very possible [that we see this fight in 2022]. I will have retired from competitive championship boxing and I will be ready to do the crossover fights."
Topics: UFC, MMA, Boxing, Tyson Fury, Francis Ngannou, Dillian Whyte
Ryan Sidle