WBC, The Ring and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has called out UFC counterpart Francis Ngannou in a series of tweets. Fury brought Ngannou into the ring at Wembley Stadium in his last bout, a sixth-round TKO win over Dillian Whyte. ‘The Gyspy King’ retired after that outing, but now appears to be targeting an exhibition bout with the UFC heavyweight champion.
“Thought you wanted some smoke”, tweeted Fury, followed by a chicken emoji. “Lets do a propper (sic) fight! Wembley Stadium 2022” he continued. Ngannou responded quickly, warning the boxer “Don't you dare think that I take my eyes out of you. You're still my priority!”. The MMA superstar did move the goalposts slightly, saying he was “coming for all the smoke” in “2023”.
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Most insiders speculate Fury will be back in a professional boxing ring by then. The unbeaten heavyweight is understood to be considering a fight with the winner of Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua II. Such a bout would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era, and net Fury a far bigger payday than any exhibition.
But Fury still seems set on the idea of an Ngannou clash for now. He closed their amusing exchange by saying “Bring it on big boy. You wouldn’t last a round (with) me muscles”. Whether this was just a case of late-night posturing from two bored champions or a genuine harbinger of things to come remains to be seen.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
