Francis Ngannou has been advised to face Tyson Fury with 4oz MMA gloves if the pair meet in the boxing ring.
The UFC heavyweight champion has agreed on several occasions to face Fury in an exhibition boxing fight as uncertainty continues to shroud his future with the MMA promotion. Ngannou, 35, climbed into the ring to consent to a potential meeting with Fury face-to-face after the boxing star's victory over Dillian Whyte in April.
Ngannou has expressed his confidence that he could beat Fury, 33, if the pair met in his rival's natural environment. However, UFC middleweight Robert Whittaker does not share this view and claims the WBC heavyweight champion would have little difficulty overcoming the Cameroonian. “I think Tyson Fury would dismantle Ngannou in a boxing fight. I think Tyson Fury is phenomenal. I’m a big fan, by the way,” Whittaker told talkSPORT.
“He’s a living legend and he’s just so good at what he does, and he’s built for it. I know he jokes around but he’s built for it, his reach and his height is stupid. I think for Ngannou to have a good shot at winning a boxing fight, it would have to be with small gloves.
“A four-ounce glove boxing fight, that’s going to be dangerous. That’s not going to pass the first [round]. That’s not diminishing Ngannou, I do think he’s a phenomenal fighter and he’s got some serious power, but Fury has fought some of the biggest hitters in the world.”
Fury previously claimed he would be willing to fight with those exact rules during his initial social media agreement with Ngannou. However, his rival later hit back by asking if the pair could fight using MMA rules with boxing gloves. It seems more likely that the 'Gypsy King' will steer away from any cage competition.
Do you think Francis Ngannou could beat Tyson Fury if they fight in 4oz gloves? Let us know in the comments section below!
Meanwhile, UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall suggested to his former sparring partner that he should fight with rule changes between each round. Despite confirming his planned retirement from the sport, Fury believes that the mixed-rules bout can take place in Las Vegas next year.
"I don't class that as a real boxing fight. That's going to be a special fight," the Morecambe resident told The MMA Hour when discussing a potential bout. "That will be in a cage with 4oz gloves in Las Vegas at the Raiders Stadium. He's a big guy; a big dangerous guy. People say it's not a fair fight in 10oz gloves and that's correct, because like [former two-weight UFC champion] Daniel Cormier said, Ngannou is a much cruder version of [ex-WBC champion] Deontay Wilder and we all know what happened there.
"So, if we do it in 4oz gloves, then he has more chance of knocking me out but I have a better chance of knocking him out also, so it makes for an exciting fight. It's very possible [that we see this fight in 2022]. I will have retired from competitive championship boxing and I will be ready to do the crossover fights."
