Francis Ngannou is expected to earn the highest payday of his career when he fights WBC champion Tyson Fury on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ‘The Predator’ has been looking forward to this battle since leaving the UFC. He is set to be paid more than $10 million, per reports. Surprisingly, the former UFC heavyweight champion has shown optimism about this fight. And believes he can wow the world by defeating ‘The Gypsy King.’ However, not everyone shares this viewpoint. On that list are Khabib Nurmagomedov and his coach Javier Mendez.
‘The Eagle’ is not disregarding the reality that, on paper, Tyson Fury is still the better boxer than Francis Ngannou. Despite the enormous sums of money involved, Nurmagomedov’s long-time coach, Javier Mendez, thinks the same.
What did Javier Mendez say about Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury?
The MMA world is excited about Ngannou vs. Fury. As a result, numerous fans and MMA critics have weighed in on the subject. Similarly, the American Kickboxing Academy’s head coach, Javier Mendez, shared his opinion on the massive crossover.
The AKA gym head coach anticipated an early knockout by Fury on his podcast. Although Mendez feels Ngannou will give his all in the bout, he does not believe the ex-UFC champion will win. Mendez also underlined Fury’s defensive abilities and the reach advantage he will have in the fight. He said:
“I think Tyson is such a great fighter, one of the greatest. He is so hard to hit that I don’t see Ngannou realistically being able to do very much because of the experience Tyson has. And He is also not a small guy, a very tall guy. He has got a great range of motion. I see Ngannou giving it his best, but I don’t see it happening.”
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, like Mendez, believes Fury is a better boxer. In fact, he believes that only one boxer can compete with Fury.
Khabib Nurmagomedov praises Fury over Ngannou
In an interview, Khabib Nurmagomedov declared that Tyson Fury is now the finest boxer in the world and that only Oleksandr Usyk has any chance of competing with him.
However, if this were a UFC battle, ‘The Eagle’ feels Francis Ngannou would have a good chance. In boxing, though, Nurmagomedov believes Ngannou has a little chance of surviving the British boxer.
Nonetheless, the former UFC champion expressed joy for Ngannou, who is set to earn a large sum of money from this battle. He also claimed that ‘The Predator’ made the correct decision by pushing for more money.
