24 October 2023 , 09:10
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Francis Ngannou has insisted he doesn't necessarily believe the rumours of Tyson Fury cheating in fights by tampering with his gloves, but has admitted his concern at the number of allegations.
The former UFC heavyweight champion is already up against the odds when he swaps the 4oz gloves of the octagon for 10oz boxing ones on Saturday night and faces arguably the greatest of his generation in Fury. And he has called into question the validity of his rival's previous attire choices, noting that there are a number of complaints regarding the Brit and his gloves.
Fury was accused of stuffing his gloves with egg weights in an outlandish accusation by Deontay Wilder after their first rematch in 2020. And it was not the first time that such issues had reared their heads, with many noting that his fight with Christian Hammer in 2015 was delayed due to an issue with his gloves at the time.
Asked by Boxing Social about his concerns, Ngannou replied that he "does not believe" his rival is cheating but added: "I have heard from a lot of complaints about his glove from people that he has fought, so I raised that issue just to double check."
As recently as March, Wilder was reiterating his claims that Fury had tampered with his gloves in their fight, which has led to a number of conspiracy theories over the years. The pair ran into each other in February when Tyson was in Saudi Arabia to support his brother Tommy against Jake Paul and appeared friendly, but the American later called him a "motherf***er" and a "cheater".
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"I know a lot of people seen me with Fury," he told ESNews at the time. "There's a place and a time for all things. Of course... I can't stand that motherf*****, they know what's up. He's a cheater, I know a lot of things. A lot of top people know a lot of things, so they can't be fooled bro."
Following his rematch victory over Wilder in 2020, Fury denied he had tampered with his gloves. "I've just read an article before saying that I might've had some blunt objects in my gloves? Yeah, two big 19 stone 7 - 275lbs destroyers in each glove," he said "So yeah, getting punched up the temple may do that to you.
"Not unless Deontay Wilder's own trainer Jay Deas was in on the conspiracy as well, along with all the Las Vegas State Commission guys who never left the room. Jay Deas was in the room when I had my hands wrapped, he examined them. He was in there when I had my gloves put on, examined them. Yeah and everybody else was in the room, they don't leave you. We all know this."