Tyson Fury has fuelled suggestions that he could face former UFC champion Francis Ngannou in his next fight.
Fury has been searching for an opponent since defeating Derek Chisora in December after failing to finalise agreements with both Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. The ‘Gypsy King’ is reportedly targeting a return to the ring in September.
Promoter Frank Warren recently confirmed that the WBC heavyweight champion will not be facing Usyk in an undisputed fight as part of a proposed end-of-year event in Saudi Arabia. It has since been hinted that Fury’s next fight could come against Ngannou and the ‘Gypsy King’ has opened up about the possibility of welcoming ‘The Predator’ to a boxing ring.
READ: Tyson Fury responds to Anthony Joshua ahead of 'game-changer' next fight
“There’s been a lot of talk of me and Ngannou fighting each other and he wants to come to boxing,” Fury told the Out of Interest Podcast during his recent trip to Australia. “He wants to fight me, talking a lot of stuff on Instagram, was even at one of my last fights, got in the ring and confronted me.
“There’s potential but we’ve had a lot of offers come in from the Middle East to host that fight this summer.”
Frank Warren previously stated that Fury’s next fight will be in the UK but did describe his upcoming fight announcement as a ‘game-changer’, last week. Meanwhile, Ngannou has been clear about his desire to test his boxing skills, even delaying his first MMA fight with new promotion PFL until 2024 in the hope of securing a high-profile opponent. Despite potentially facing an MMA star, though, Fury has no intention of stepping into the octagon himself.
“Do I want to go into a cage and start rolling about with some absolute crank? No, thank you,” Fury joked. “But I’m not being paid to go in a ring and do that, am I?
“I make big boy money in a boxing ring, so if any of these guys want to make some big boy money and they want to fight the champ, I suggest get a pair of boxing gloves on and come and fight me under queensbury rules and make your biggest payday ever.”
