Tyson Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, believes there is a very good chance that ‘The Gypsy King’ will run it back with Francis Ngannou.
Last month, the former UFC heavyweight champion made his professional boxing debut, and to the surprise of practically everyone, he more than held his own against the man many believe to be the greatest pugilist in the sport today.
Through ten entertaining rounds, Ngannou laid it on Fury, leaving the WBC titleholder bloody and bruised. Despite that, Fury still walked away with the victory via a closely contested and somewhat controversial split decision.
Given the way things played out between the two behemoths, a rematch certainly feels inevitable. Warren, the founder of Queensberry Promotions, echoed those sentiments during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday.
“I think there’s a good chance of that happening. I do,” Warren said.
“I don’t know [if it’ll be next for Fury]. It’s like jumping too far forward. Let’s get the big one [with Oleksandr Usyk on Feb. 17] out of the way first, and then we’ll see where we go. But I do think [it’ll happen]. Tyson told me that he wants the rematch, and I know Ngannou wants it, because after the fight we were out there, we met at His Excellency [Turki Alalshikh]’s house and we had quite a lengthy conversation. He’s a nice guy, by the way. He’s a really nice guy, good team around him, and I’m quite sure we’ll do it again.”
Frank Warren believes there is a good chance Fury/Ngannou 2 will happen in 2024. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/g1tEYz7Lo7
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) November 20, 2023
Before Tyson Fury considers a rematch with Ngannou, he’ll first need to take care of a bit of business with reigning WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Francis Ngannou Surprised Everyone with His Performance Against Tyson Fury
Francis Ngannou shocked fans with his impressive performance against Fury. So much so that the World Boxing Council moved ‘The Predator’ into the No. 10 spot on the official heavyweight rankings despite having only one career fight and zero wins.
Speaking about Ngannou’s performance, Warren expected the Cameroonian to present a bigger challenge than previous MMA fighters who have strapped on the 10-ounce gloves, but even he was surprised by the skill that Ngannou displayed in his sweet science debut.
“There was no video footage to look at of Ngannou in a ring. All you could look at him of was in an MMA match, in UFC as it was. And when I looked at that, I could see him as a tough guy,” Warren said. “He’s a big competitor, he’s strong, so I knew that if it was coming into clinches or whatever — Tyson, as he’s fought in his last four fights, where he stood toe-to-toe with people and slugged it out in some cases, like he did with Deontay Wilder, he didn’t do what he used to do in the past, which was to get up on his toes and box, use his jab. He actually stood there and traded with him. And I thought that if they do that, I don’t want him getting in these clinches with Ngannou, because I felt that he’d be used to that.
“But when that first bell went and he came out and I watched as he shapes up, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this is not what I’m expecting. This is not.’ Normally, MMA guys, they’re a bit more square on. He actually had the stance of a boxer, and he could jab and he was switch-hitting. And after a couple of rounds, obviously, I believed Tyson was winning, but I thought, ‘This is not going to be the job that everybody’s saying it’s going to be.’”
Watch the full interview below:
Transcription by MMA Fighting
