Francis Ngannou won his last professional fight by unanimous decision to retain the UFC heavyweight championship, so he would seem to be the last person to need extra assistance to prepare for a bout.
But his next fight—a boxing match between undefeated world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury—is no ordinary fight. So it only makes sense that Ngannou would call in the big guns by hiring Mike Tyson to be in his corner.
Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion of the world ever and widely heralded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, will help Ngannou as he makes the transition from MMA to the boxing ring for an exhibition fight against Tyson that’s set to take place on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Mike Tyson gave Francis Ngannou tips on how to fight Tyson Fury when they met. Now Ngannou has officially appointed Tyson as one of his trainers to be in his corner for their fight on Oct 28th…
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) August 3, 2023
[🎥 @MikeTyson & @Francis_Ngannou]pic.twitter.com/LdWdGNjDKb
Ngannou holds a 17–3 UFC record, last fighting at UFC 270 on Jan. 22, 2022, when he defeated Ciryl Gane. He first took control of the heavyweight title at UFC 260 by beating Stipe Miocic with a second-round knockout.
Fury’s last fight came on Dec. 3 of last year when he beat Derek Chisora by technical knockout in London.