Mike Tyson pays Francis Ngannou biggest compliment ahead of Tyson Fury fight

22 October 2023 , 08:00

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Mike Tyson pays Francis Ngannou biggest compliment ahead of Tyson Fury fight

Mike Tyson has praised Francis Ngannou 's power by joking that some of his past opponents are still knocked out.

Boxing legend Tyson is helping Ngannou prepare for his boxing debut against heavyweight champion Tyson Fury next weekend in Saudi Arabia. 'Iron Mike' is widely regarded as one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing history and he gushed over Ngannou's power by citing the Cameroonian's impressive knockout rate in MMA.

"Not only does he have the power, you can only rate somebody by the people they hit. He hits very hard, as a matter of fact I don't think you can even ask them because they're still knocked out," Tyson said on his Hotboxin' podcast. Ngannou explained that his strength is something that runs his family and told a funny story about when he first became aware of it.

Who wins on October 28 - Tyson Fury or Francis Ngannou? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below

"Everything that I do, people kind of recognised my power. Even growing up people recognised my power, my family has that reputation of being strong. I remember growing up, every time I would close this gas tank people would call me on the phone to come and open the gas because they couldn't open it.

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"That was the moment that I figured I didn't have the same power as everybody. Growing up I had that situation to find balance. I would shake people's hands and they would be like 'Bro you squeezed my hand' and I would be like 'No I didn't squeeze your hand! I just said hi gently.''"

Ngannou has vowed to spoil any chance of Fury's undisputed heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk taking place before the end of the year after the rivals recently put pen to paper after months of negotiations. The showdown could take place as soon as December 23 but is more likely to be held in the first quarter of next year.

Tyson doesn't have an official role in Ngannou's camp and has been popping in and out of his training sessions in the build-up to the fight. Telling GQ of his involvement in the fight, Tyson said: “I’m not a trainer. I’m a coach. A trainer can be bought by anybody. ‘Train this guy. Hey, train this guy,’. I’m a coach. I’m loyal to my guy. When he gets beat up, I feel the punches. "When he’s hitting, knocking out a motherf***r, I feel the victory applause."

Harry Davies