Tyson Fury nearly suffered a catastrophic loss to Francis Ngannou. Looking back, he realizes he didn’t take the former UFC heavyweight champion as seriously as he should have.
In an interview with ALF Global, Fury admitted that he was underprepared for his October 2023 crossover boxing match against Ngannou. The most memorable moment of the bout occurred in Round 3, when Ngannou – competing in his first pro boxing match – landed a powerful punch that knocked Fury down. Fury beat the count and battled back over the remaining seven rounds to earn a split decision that was widely disputed by fans and the fighting community.
For Fury, the build to the matchup felt more like an exhibition than a legitimate competition.
“No, I didn’t not train for him because I didn’t think he was a good fighter,” Fury said. “I knew he was a good fighter, but to me it’s levels to boxing. So if I’m fighting a world champion, then in my mind, he’s a world champion, everything’s good. But when you do an exhibition fight, play, it wasn’t really a fight, do you understand what I’m saying. It wasn’t, in my mind, a fight, it’s just an exhibition, a game.
“To him, to Ngannou, it was, ‘Aaaah, big fight, I fight Tyson Fury!’ To me, it was play, a game, you know what I mean?”
Ngannou wasn’t the first fighter to put Fury’s back on the canvas. In one of the most incredible scenes in boxing history, Fury was seemingly knocked out cold in his first fight against Deontay Wilder in 2018. Fury miraculously rose from the canvas and went on to outbox Wilder, salvaging a split draw that Fury arguably won despite Wilder landing the biggest punch of the contest.
Asked to compare Ngannou and Wilder’s power, Fury gave the clear edge to Wilder.
“Ngannou’s a strong guy, big guy, but he doesn’t punch like Wilder,” Fury said. “No way.”
Ngannou parlayed his impressive performance against Fury into another high-profile boxing match in March 2024, when he faced Anthony Joshua. That sophomore outing went poorly for Ngannou as he was knocked out in dominant fashion by Joshua in the second round.
Other MMA stars have dabbled in boxing, including Conor McGregor, who lost to the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a blockbuster crossover boxing match, and UFC legend Anderson Silva, who holds knockout victories over fellow former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Tito Ortiz since transitioning to boxing in 2021.
Several other UFC stars have expressed interest in boxing, including former lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, and Fury welcomes anyone who can sell a fight to step into the squared circle.
“I think if they’re popular and they’re famous, then they can cross over into any other fight sport because it’s about popularity today,” Fury said. “How many tickets they can sell, how many views they can generate, for sure. I think it’s good. I think it’s good for both sports. I think it’s good for MMA and I think it’s also good for boxing.”
