Francis Ngannou, who will as we all know fight WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury in a non-title 10 rounder in Saudi Arabia on October 28th, has expressed concerns about Fury’s gloves. A guest on the Joe Rogan podcast, the former MMA fighter turned boxer said he has “heard a lot of complaints about Fury’s gloves.” Specifically, Ngannou said in elaborating further, he has concerns that Fury’s gloves “have no protection.”
Ngannou is of course not the first fighter to come forward and say there has been an issue with Fury’s glove or gloves in a fight, Deontay Wilder of course claimed (and still claims) that Fury defeated him with “doctored gloves,” with some of the padding having been removed. Fury has of course never been charged with any wrongdoing, yet Ngannou is adamant he will have Fury’s gloves “checked” prior to their fight next month.
“He’s very tricky with his glove,” Ngannou told Rogan of Fury. “I think he cheats. We are talking about it with the team, and they’re like, ‘Oh, there’s the UK Commission with the gloves.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, we’re going to get there, we need ever glove to be checked.’ You don’t tell me about this commission. If you want us to fight bare hands, bare-knuckle, let’s go bare-knuckle. But don’t give me 10-ounce gloves and [you] wear 8-ounce or 6-ounce gloves because he has no protection. No. But his opponent [has] complained about the gloves. It might not be [true] but we have to check that. …I think we have nothing to lose by double-checking, because it’s been more than once that people talk about his gloves, and even his opponents. In the boxing world, you have to worry about everything.”
Most people you speak to feel Fury will win this fight with ease, and that Ngannou, who will be having his boxing debut, will do well to land anything of significance on such a natural, talented boxer. But Ngannou is entitled to check Fury’s gloves and everything else such as hand-wraps, or members of Ngannou’s team will be entitled to do so on the night.
Fury has always said he has never cheated, with gloves or by any other means, but the things Wilder said (and again, still says) have clearly been heard by Ngannou.
Add it all up, and it adds further hype to the upcoming fight. It will, however, be interesting to see if Fury responds to what Ngannou had to say to Rogan.