The former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is set to go up against boxing champion Tyson Fury in Riyadh this upcoming weekend. Recently, both fighters made an appearance at public workouts for a light session. However, during these sessions, they didn’t reveal much about their preparations, and it seemed more like another opportunity for them to engage with the media before the fight night.
Despite the limited glimpses of Ngannou’s workout, these brief moments were enough for the fans trying to assess his prospects against ‘The Gypsy King‘. This is especially significant because Ngannou has no prior boxing experience. He is renowned as one of the most powerful punchers in the world, with numerous knockout victories over prominent MMA fighters. However, he now faces a unique challenge in the form of Fury.
Fans are afraid for the Cameroonian fighter before the big money fight in Saudi Arabia, as according to them, Francis looks quite slow and tired in the padding session. “This doesn’t look great, tbh. It looks like he’s gassed out too.” wrote a fan on X (formerly Twitter).
Francis Ngannou shows off his hands for his boxing match vs. Tyson Fury. #FuryNgannou pic.twitter.com/7FVfLCMpoq
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 25, 2023
Another X user was of the opinion that the WBC champion Fury will completely dominate Ngannou in their fight on October 28: “Frances is going to eat a steady diet of jabs”. One of them was sure that Fury would make easy work of the former UFC champion, as they commented, “Where is the best place to place bets for this fight? Rest in peace, Francis.”
While Ngannou obviously does not possess the same boxing skills as Fury, some fans believe that he is purposely looking slow in the training session.
Fans believe Francis Ngannou is deceiving Tyson Fury
Many of the fans believed that Francis Ngannou did it all intentionally in the training footage to trick Tyson Fury before their big match-up this weekend. Ngannou has also done it previously with UFC heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic.
Ngannou won the heavyweight title at UFC 260 by defeating Miocic in a second-round victory. However, many believed that although he did get the better of one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, that was not the best performance by the ‘Predator‘. Francis then, in an interview, cleared the air around it and expressed that it was all part of a larger plan.
“Like, I was getting ready for the Stipe fight, and I was like, Stipe must be watching the Rozenstruik fight, and he was like, Oh, the guy is still the same. I am like, he’s going to fall into this trap. He’s going to know that the guy is still the same. I am going to rush on him. He’s going to change levels and all this stuff. I am like, oh, bro, you get it wrong”, said Francis Ngannou in an interview with Daniel Cormier.
The fight in question here is Ngannou’s bout just before Stipe, which was against Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Francis Ngannou won that fight in 20 seconds to secure one of the fastest victories in the history of the UFC.