16 December 2023 , 04:51
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Francis Ngannou praised Jake Paul after the YouTuber brutally knocked out Andre August in the first round.
Paul won his eighth professional fight in Florida on Friday night with a stunning uppercut stoppage inside two minutes, his first win over an opponent who wasn't a social media star or a retired MMA star. And former UFC champion Ngannou, who dropped Tyson Fury in October, said: "The kid’s got skills, 100 per cent. Congrats on an amazing performance."
Ngannou and Paul are both signed up to MMA promotion PFL but Paul looks set to continue his boxing career rather than switch to the cage. But he refused to call out bitter rival KSI with whom he has been linked since they began fighting in 2018, instead revealing he will make an announcement on his next fight shortly.
"We've got an announcement next week," he said. "I'm not going to call out any names. I'm not going to give anyone the limelight right now who doesn't want to fight me. I could call these big names out right now, but I have already done that and they don't want to fight me. We all know who I'm talking about.
"[I want] more boxing prospects, more experience, more time in the ring under the bright lights and staying active. I'm focused on being the best in the world, and creating one of the best sports stories in the history of sports. From being on the Disney Channel and not knowing how to throw a jab three years ago, to world champion.
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"It's incredible to inspire these young people or anyone out there to chase their dreams, and no matter where you start or when - you can pursue it and rise to the top. I don't know what I proved tonight but I'm just going to do me. This is the next step to world champion and clearly these guys can't hang with me. He's been doing this his whole life. What's next? It's going to be even bigger. All I wanted was to give you a knockout for Christmas."