Francis Ngannou’s striking coach has no doubt that Ngannou can defeat Tyson Fury in a boxing match.
Earlier this week, two-time heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and newly minted UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou engaged in a brief back-and-forth, teasing the two competing in a boxing match. Fury stated that he would make easy work of Ngannou after he “smashes” Anthony Joshua. Ngannou immediately responded with an image of a bloodied Fury, rhetorically asking the Englishman how much worse it would be if the two fight.
Francis Ngannou was not speaking in the terms of an MMA fight. He believes that he would be able to dismantle Fury inside a boxing ring. Oddsmakers and the general public are likely to disagree due to Fury clearly having all the boxing experience in his favor. Even still, if this bout ever did come together, Ngannou’s striking coach Dewey Cooper believes the outcome would be far from a foregone conclusion. On the contrary, he thinks that Ngannou can absolutely defeat Fury in a boxing match given the right preparation.
“Tyson Fury, right now, is the best boxer in the world,” Cooper told RT Sport. “Tyson Fury is difficult for any heavyweight because of the attributes, the speed, the boxing ability, the good defense, the confidence, the swagger of Tyson Fury. Tyson’s a real one. Tyson’s a tough fight for anyone in boxing, but Francis definitely could fight any heavyweight, with time and amending the training a little bit.
“He could definitely do it because Francis does have power, however, with a boxing glove the power will decrease a little bit compared to what it is with an MMA glove because an MMA glove is only four ounces when a boxing glove is 10 ounces. So that makes a difference, you know, a lot of little intangible things. But to answer your question, of course he can box and of course he could eventually beat someone like a Tyson Fury, for sure. It just, you need to go into a straight boxing format.”
A boxing match between Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury is the only fight Ngannou could have right now that could be bigger than the much-discussed Jon Jones fight. Though Ngannou has never boxed before, a fight between the UFC heavyweight champion and a boxing heavyweight champion sells itself. In order for the fight to happen, the UFC would have to sign off on it and both men would need to be willing to back up their Twitter talk in a special attractions blockbuster. It’s a long shot, but if there’s one thing we learned from MayMac, you can never say never.
Do you think Francis Ngannou could defeat Tyson Fury in a boxing match?
