12 September 2023 , 11:14
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Francis Ngannou has been backed to pose the same amount of threat as Deontay Wilder did in his upcoming fight against Tyson Fury.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou is currently preparing for his boxing debut against Fury on October 28 in Saudi Arabia. The giants sized each other up at their press conference last week ahead of the crossover bout, with Fury even stripping off for their staredown and he even asked Ngannou to grab his flabby love handles whilst going face-to-face.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum thinks knockout artist Ngannou is just as dangerous as Wilder despite the Cameroonian's absence of any boxing record. "Deontay has trained his whole life as a boxer so he had that in his favour. It’s the same type of danger that Fury faces fighting Ngannou as when he fought Wilder. Tyson has shown resiliency with big punches, like Wilder but notice they were able to knock him down, so, again, this fight can go the other way, if Tyson isn’t fully prepared," Arum told Boxing News.
Who wins on October 28 - Tyson Fury or Francis Ngannou? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
Ngannou holds a world record for the hardest punch ever recorded as his power is equivalent to being hit by a Ford Escort going at full speed. Fury has watched the video of Ngannou breaking the punch record as he said: "The guy is a big puncher. He is very strong and well built, but I've fought big punchers before like Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko. The one thing they both had in common was being massive punchers, but they both couldn't land it when it counted.
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"It's ok being a big strong puncher when hitting a target that doesn't move, but it's pretty difficult to hit what you can't see. I'm not the best at what I do because I'm easy to hit, I'm the best at what I do because I'm the most elusive world champion in history. If he can land it on me, he's got good aim and he's been training."
Ngannou is currently training with Mike Tyson as the boxing legend is sharpening up his skillset in the weeks leading up to the crossover fight. 'The Predator' acknowledged that Fury has been able to beat some of the biggest heavyweight punchers and recognises that he must work on being able to land his big punch.
"We are working on the delivery system and in the camp we have one of the best boxers ever in Mike Tyson [to do that]. It's a very important element for me in that fight, if you can't hit somebody with your punch it's worthless. I really intend to make my punch useful, that's why I'm working on the delivery system," he said.