Francis Ngannou isn’t the only MMA champion/big star is search of a big crossover fight against a star boxer. UFC heavyweight champ Ngannou wants a fight with Tyson Fury, as has been heavily documented. Reigning UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman is making plenty of headlines himself, having called out superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Usman, like Ngannou, doesn’t seem interested in taking a smaller boxing match in order to prepare for a big fight, he instead wants to get right in there with Canelo. And what’s more, Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has stated how his man will “knock out Canelo in three rounds.”
Not only that, but Abdelaziz says Usman “can beat any man alive.”
“Kamaru will knock him out in three rounds,” Abdelaziz said to MMA Junkie on the subject of a fight with Canelo. “You cannot say no to Kamaru. He’s a guy who comes from Africa. He jumped a lot of obstacles. I believe in Kamaru. This is the difference between me and other people. I believe in him, I live with him, I breathe with him, I die with him, I fight with him. He’s a special person in my life. How many street fights have me and Kamaru been to? We’ve been in a lot of street fights, and I have to believe in him. I believe Kamaru can beat any man alive.”
Usman is a superb MMA fighter, yet as is the case with the equally impressive Ngannou, how would Usman manage the switch in disciplines? How well can Usman box? As with Ngannou challenging Fury in the ring, of course an Usman-Canelo fight would be a huge hit with the fans if it happened (Canelo hasn’t ruled it out, either – although Dana White might have done so), but will it actually take place?
Abdelaziz says Usman feels “all boxers are cowards because none of them want to come to MMA.”
“He said I’m the pound-for-pound king in MMA, I want to fight the pound-for-pound coward in boxing,” Abdelaziz quoted his own fighter as saying. “They all want to come to boxing, but at the end of the day, in a street fight, who’s the baddest man on the planet? They cannot quote Canelo the as the baddest man on the planet. They cannot quote Canelo the pound-for-pound best boxer because is they both fought in the street, who’s gonna win? Kamaru would beat his ass like he stole something.”
There is no doubt about it, Abdelaziz has done a great job in talking up a possible Canelo showdown on behalf of his fighter; but can Usman live up to such a build-up should he ever get the chance to do so?
Canelo’s immediate calendar looks pretty full, yet we all know the Mexican star loves to stay active, so who knows? Imagine if we got Ngannou-Fury and Usman-Canelo!