Francis Ngannou fights Anthony Joshua this Friday, but he saved his most passionate trash talk for a different rival.
Boxing star Tyson Fury was sitting in the front row for the Ngannou vs. Joshua press conference that took place Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and he couldn’t help but chirp at Ngannou when the topic of their October 2023 bout came up.
Ngannou, a former UFC champion and current PFL fighter, lost to Fury in his boxing debut, but scored the lone knockdown of the bout in Round 3 and nearly went on to earn a split decision over boxing’s longtime heavyweight king. A heated exchange between Ngannou and Fury started when Ngannou referred to the result of their fight as a win.
“[Joshua] will be the best [win] so far, but as I said, I’m just getting started,” Ngannou said. “I’m really looking for the victory Friday night but I don’t think that will be making any statement of my career because the road is still long and I’m really intending to gain a lot of major victories like this.
“One over Tyson—one more over Tyson because I had the first one over him and I’m intending to have the second one. He’s been b******* about it, which is true.”
That comment prompted Fury to speak up from his seat. What Fury said was unclear on the broadcast, but his response was enough to get Ngannou fired up and he answered with vigor.
“You’re going to sleep in the [ring] again and I’m going to wipe the ring with your ass again,” Ngannou said. “You wiped the ring with your ass, that was the blood in the ring sticking to your pants.”
Fury continued to jaw at Ngannou, apparently mentioning the possibility of them having a confrontation during fight week. To this, Ngannou issued Fury a warning.
“I tell you, your only chance is in the ring with the boxing rules,” Ngannou said. “When you step off of that ring, you better stay five meters away before you talk your s*** because if I lose it, you’re going to have a really bad time, my friend.
“Respect the fact that boxing is protecting us and the rules of boxing are protecting us because without that, you are nothing in front of me. I would beat you every day, twice on Sunday.”
Ngannou speaks from experience, having compiled a 12-2 record in the UFC that included a reign as the promotion’s heavyweight champion. He now seeks boxing gold by defeating Joshua, with the winner of Friday’s contest in Riyadh expected to face the winner of a May 18 match between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.
Watch video of Ngannou and Fury’s exchange below.
@francis_ngannou and @Tyson_Fury are GOING AT IT#JoshuaNgannou Press Conference https://t.co/Tyik8OpyMR#KnockoutChaos | #RiyadhSeason pic.twitter.com/TPFphppybu
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) March 6, 2024
