After narrowly losing a split decision to Fury, Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is eager for a rematch.
Ngannou made his boxing debut on Saturday and lost a very close split decision. In the fight, he dropped Fury, and when the final bell rang, many thought Ngannou won. However, the judges gave Fury the split decision win, and now since the loss, Ngannou says he wants the rematch next time out.
“The rematch. The rematch is what I want next the most, because as of right now, I feel like there are a lot of options for me, but I want to choose wisely,” Ngannou said to TMZ Sports. “I will go for the rematch first. Going into the first one, there was a lot of question, there was a lot of uncertainty for boxing, but going into the training camp, there was a lot of unknown. I think this fight from the beginning of the camp to the leading up to the fight was a lot of experience that will definitely help me a lot for the second fight.”
As of right now, Tyson Fury is set to face Oleksandr Usyk in February for the undisputed heavyweight titles. It’s a massive fight, and if that happens, Francis Ngannou says he will take an MMA fight in the PFL and then rematch Fury later in 2024.
“My best scenario in boxing is to wait for Fury,” Ngannou said. “I mean, if Usyk can step out and let me fight Fury, then I fight Fury. (Or) I let them do whatever they do, I go back, maybe do some MMA, and come back and take some people in boxing. I’m planning to fight twice next year, maybe February or March. If (Fury) doesn’t work, I can still fight February or March MMA, and then expect by the end of the year to get ready for the boxing match.”
Francis Ngannou won’t appeal the result
In the fight, Francis Ngannou was also hit with an illegal elbow which many fans thought a point should have been taken.
Not only does Ngannou think a point should have been taken, but he doesn’t think the ref treated him fairly. However, Ngannou says he won’t be appealing the result as he doesn’t think there’s a chance he wins.
“I saw the elbow, the elbow was what round, sixth or seventh round? The ref didn’t say anything about it. In the locker room, the commission said no clinch and this and that,” Ngannou said. “Even Tyson Fury’s team said they know I’m an MMA guy and would do this, at the beginning when we were getting close to the clinch, it was break… To be honest, I don’t think I was fairly treated…
“That is something that is very complicated. Inside the ring, I didn’t know exactly what happened in the fight. My corner and coaches said I won… Who am I gonna appeal to? I have no chance. I think that’s just another way of humiliation,” Ngannou added.
Currently, Francis Ngannou does not have his next fight booked.
