Just like many others, Junior Dos Santos isn’t giving Francis Ngannou much of a chance against Tyson Fury.
‘I Don’t See Those Boxing Skills On Ngannou’
But don’t get it twisted, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion knows what Ngannou is capable of and how could he not, after being knocked out by ‘The Predator’ back in 2019.
For Ngannou, his power is obviously the ultimate key to victory in his highly-anticipated pro boxing debut on Oct. 28. However, former foe Dos Santos doesn’t think it will be enough to play spoiler to the undefeated Fury, who is considered by many to be the best boxer on the planet right now.
“The chances I see for Ngannou, the main thing that he has is the knockout power,” Dos Santos told Middle Easy. “He needs to go rush for that, look for Tyson Fury to kind of put him in the corner and throw those big hands, trying to make him feel the punches. Otherwise, I don’t see those boxing skills on Ngannou. I can not see that. In some fights because [he has] too much muscle, he gets tired of pretty soon.
“We are talking about [him taking on] Tyson Fury— someone who’s huge, who moves very well, deals very well with his weight, with his size, everything, he has long arms. He can reach you from far away. So, it’s a tough fight for [Ngannou]. He is who he is because he is amazing on those points.”
JDS Compares Fury vs. Ngannou To ‘May-Mac’
On paper, Ngannou vs. Fury looks to be the most one-sided fight of the year. Fury is undefeated 33-0-1 (24 KO’s) in his pro boxing career and ex-UFC champ Ngannou has yet to step into the boxing ring.
Despite the massive difference in experience and many expectations of a beatdown, Dos Santos thinks the matchup will play out similar to 2017’s ‘money fight’ between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, in which Mayweather finished the Irishman in round 10.
“For Ngannou, we never saw him on boxing, of course, but what I have been seeing of him of his boxing part… that’s what people don’t understand. Boxing is a completely different thing. Like Conor McGregor, he had the knockout power as well, but when he fought Floyd Mayweather, we can see something like that because they’re getting paid so big money that they have to deliver a show. So, they need to go like a few rounds like Mayweather did with Conor McGregor.
“You really believe like Conor went 10 rounds with him because of his merit? No way,” Dos Santos continued. “Mayweather was taking his time and delivering a show for the people. That was great and that’s why Conor was able to [go 10 rounds]. Mayweather also knew that he had the knockout power. Boxing is different and Mayweather kind of allowed him like the fight to go. And it was little by little, break him. We can see something like that happening with Tyson Fury and Ngannou. You know Tyson Fury likes delivering the show and allow people to really see the show, to have some exciting moments or things like that. We can see something like that. I really believe we can go that way because the money’s there. So they have to entertain us.”
Dos Santos Is ‘Rooting’ For Ngannou, But ‘The Chances I See Are So Little’
JDS would love to see his former opponent shock the world later this fall, but he is tethered to reality, acknowledging the odds of that happening are very slim.
“To tell you the truth, I’m rooting for Ngannou,” Dos Santos added. “I wanna see him winning. Everything he has been doing to the sport and imposing his will to make things happen. That’s amazing. Something that we never see in the sport. So I’m rooting for him. I’m being sincere here. I’m not like against him or something like that, no way. I wanna see him winning, but the chances I see are so little.”
