UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has again taken aim at his boxing equivalent Tyson Fury by vowing to knock out the British fighter.
Fury and Jones are considered the greatest heavyweights in their respective sports, and are atop many pound-for-pound lists as well. And after a conversation on Joe Rogan's podcast piqued the interest of the boxer, there has been an ongoing war of words between the two massive fighters over who would win a crossover bout.
The consensus is that Fury would comfortably win a boxing match, while renowned grappler Jones would have his way with the Brit if they were to meet in a cage. And now the American has promised to knock out his rival after he once again took aim on social media.
Fury watched a video of Jones having a light move around with middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, commenting via his Instagram stories: "Jon Jones, imagine the amount of right hands I'd catch you with here." The UFC veteran responded, insisting that he doesn't doubt himself in any situation.
"I have no reason to doubt myself against any man," Jones wrote in response to Fury's jab. "Give me a few months in a serious boxing camp. I like my chances. I may just knock you out." Fury reposted his rival's message, but opted against adding any further response to the exchange.
There had been talks of a potential crossover between Jones and Fury, although his promoter Dana White was more keen to see the bout happen in the octagon. And it now seems more likely that Fury will face the lineal champion Francis Ngannou, who left the UFC having never lost his belt before signing with PFL and is more widely considered the true heavyweight champion.
Who do you think would win between Tyson Fury and Jon Jones? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Fury's promoter Frank Warren has vowed to give fight fans a "game-changing" opponent when he returns to the ring for the first time this year after talks broke down for an undisputed title fight between he and Oleksandr Usyk. And rival promoter Eddie Hearn believes that opponent will be the hard-hitting knockout artist Ngannou.
"Yes, I believe so, this is what I've heard," Hearn told Boxing Social of Fury vs Ngannou. "It will be an exhibition apparently, no knockdowns or anything. I don't know, I'm only telling you what I've heard. Who knows what's what, but I think that is apparently what is going to be the next fight.
"[It's] disappointing, but it is what it is. It's a big event, but I wanted to see him fight Oleksandr Usyk. It'd be nice to get an undisputed champion, but Tyson's in charge of his own career and I'm sure he's gonna make a load of money, good luck to him."
