Francis Ngannou wants one of his desired two fights next year to be a rematch with Tyson Fury.
The former UFC champion from Cameroon has been soaking in the adulation after his better-than-anticipated performance against WBC titlist Fury in what was Ngannou’s boxing debut last Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ngannou even dropped Fury in the third round of a fight that many pundits and experts expected to be a mismatch. In the end, Fury scraped by with a razor close 10-round split decision.
Ngannou has called for a rematch amid his insistence that he deserved to win the fight, saying the result was a “robbery.”
Ngannou, who parted ways with the UFC earlier this year, is under contract with the PFL, although he has not fought under that organization yet.
“The rematch is what I want next the most,” Ngannou told TMZ. “As for right now, I feel like there is a lot of options for me, but I want to choose wisely. And I would go for the rematch first.”
Of course, Ngannou’s wish for a rematch with Fury is not likely to happen, at least anytime soon, since Fury is scheduled to take on Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship. That fight will reportedly take place in February, in Riyadh. (Dec. 23 was reportedly the original date for the fight but Fury’s tougher-than-expected fight with Ngannou has apparently convinced his handlers to move the date.)
Ngannou floated a scenario in which Usyk might step aside to allow his rematch to take place but that figures to be highly unlikely. Ngannou suggested he may partake in an MMA fight first, in the spring, before returning to boxing later in the year.
“My best scenario in boxing is to wait for Fury,” Ngannou said. “If Usyk can step out and let me fight Fury, I’ll fight Fury. Then I’ll let them do whatever they do. I’ll go back, maybe do some MMA fight and come back and take some people in boxing.
“I’m planning to fight potentially twice next year, maybe February or March.”
“If it doesn’t work, I can still fight February or March in MMA,” Ngannou continued. “Then expecting by the end of the year, this time October because it’s going to give me at least seven to eight months to recover from my MMA fight in case something happens.”
By Sean Nam