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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Martin Domin

Tyson Fury will come out of retirement to fight UFC heavyweight star Francis Ngannou

Tyson Fury insists he will retire from boxing after fighting Dillian Whyte - but will then take on UFC champion Francis Ngannou in a 'special' attraction.

Fury announced yesterday that his world title defence against Whyte at Wembley on April 23 will be his retirement fight.

But he admitted he will make an exception for a crossover fight with Ngannou who is preparing to undergo knee surgery following his successful title defence against Ciryl Gane.

"I don't class that as a real boxing fight. That's going to be a special fight," he told The MMA Hour. "That will be in a cage with 4oz gloves in Las Vegas at the Raiders Stadium.

"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.

"He won't be the UFC champion anymore, I won't be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore, but I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can't take that from me.

"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 UFC champion] Daniel Cormier said, Ngannou is a much cruder version of 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.

Would Tyson Fury KO Francis Ngannou? Let us know in the comments section below

"I will come in at my heaviest for that fight, I will be 300lb so that I can nail him to the canvas."

Ngannou beat Gane despite tearing his knee ligaments in the weeks before the fight and is expected to be out of action until the end of the year.

The Cameroonian is also involved in a contract row with the UFC and can walk away from the promotion at the end of the year.

He has demanded that any new deal includes the option to fight in boxing fights.

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