Francis Ngannou clashes with old rival Tyson Fury before Anthony Joshua fight

06 March 2024 , 17:57

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Francis Ngannou clashes with old rival Tyson Fury before Anthony Joshua fight

Francis Ngannou exchanged words with former opponent Tyson Fury at the press conference for his fight with Anthony Joshua.

Ex-UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou fights for the second time as a professional boxer when he faces Joshua on Friday in Saudi Arabia. The Cameroonian put on a stunning performance in his ring debut last October when he dropped Fury and only lost by a single point in a controversial decision.

Ngannou said of his fight with Joshua: "I will struggle to 10 rounds. If anybody is not struggling to do 10 rounds then you’re not human. I have no problem with that because it’s a learning process. I struggled with the first fight and I was questioning myself because I had never been in a professional [boxing] fight, so yes I did struggle but I think he [Fury] struggled as well, maybe more."

Fury was in attendance for the press conference and he was wound up at Ngannou claiming he beat him. "Get the job done and you’ll get another hiding," Fury said before Ngannou responded: "You’re going to sleep in the [ring] again and I will wipe the ring with your a*** again. You wiped the ring with your a***, there was blood in the ring." Fury then said: "You weren’t saying that last night."

Fury, Joshua and Ngannou all came together alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Saudi royal advisor Turki Alalsheikh in an unlikely setting on Tuesday evening. Fury's trainer Andy Lee revealed that it almost kicked off between the Brit and Ngannou when they exchanged words about their controversial fight.

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"Your only chance is in the boxing ring with boxing rules," Ngannou said whilst still going at Fury. "When you step out of the ring you better stay five metres away before talking your s*** because if I lose it, you're going to have a really bad time my friend. Respect the fact that the rules of boxing because without that you are nothing in front of me. I beat you every day and twice on Sunday."

The winner of Joshua and Ngannou's fight has been promised a shot at the undisputed world titles, which Fury and fellow heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk fight for on May 18. Ngannou is seemingly routing for Fury to beat Usyk to move one step closer to their potential rematch.

Harry Davies