The former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is going to compete in one of the biggest crossover fights in the history of combat sports, which is reported to fetch him over $10 million. A lot of fans and experts have shared their opinions on the boxing fight and recently, a familiar face to Ngannou joined the bracket as well. Recently, in an interview with MMA Junkie, the Cameroon-French-based fighter’s coach Fernand Lopez stated that ‘The Predator’ can shock the world.
Ngannou is going to face one of the toughest challenges in boxing, Tyson Fury, in October. The British boxer has stood victorious against some of the toughest punchers in the sport. However, people close to Ngannou, like his ex-coach Lopez and Mike Tyson, have confidence in ‘The Predator’.
Francis Ngannou backed to shock the world by former coach against Tyson Fury
Fernand Lopez used to coach Francis Ngannou for several years and now has moved on to coach other UFC stars after Ngannou left the team. In a recent interview, he was discussing The Predator’s upcoming boxing debut. During the interview, Lopez shared that Ngannou could defeat Fury. Lopez said:
“There’s a small slight part of a chance, if you have that chance to hit the chin when he’s fresh, you might just shock the world. Who knows? So I don’t say [Francis Ngannou] has zero chance“
The former UFC heavyweight champion is currently polishing his striking and boxing with the help of Mike Tyson. ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ seems to have a lot of conviction about Ngannou.
Therefore, Tyson even compared Ngannou’s chances against Fury with how the UFC star Conor McGregor did against the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather in their boxing crossover in 2017.
Mike Tyson compared Ngannou vs. Fury with McGregor vs. Mayweather
Mike Tyson is not only helping ‘The Predator’ to prepare for his upcoming fight, but also promoting it. For the same, the heavyweight duo sat down for a Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson podcast. During their conversation on the podcast, ‘Iron’ Mike stated that if McGregor could do so well against the unconquered Mayweather, then even Ngannou has hope.
In their iconic fight, the Irishman stood his ground and countered clinically through Mayweather till the 10th round. Before he lost in the same round, the scores were 86-85 in Mayweather’s favor, thus the fight was quite closer than it looked.
If Ngannou comes true to Mike Tyson’s claims, then the fans will be in for a treat. However, nothing can be said until the combatants enter the cage on 28th October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
