Mike Tyson had some, shall we say, interesting things to say about the upcoming October heavyweight showdown he is very much a part of – Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou. Speaking on The Jim Rome Show, the former heavyweight king said that a win by the former UFC heavyweight boss would be “a bigger upset than Douglas-Tyson.”
That said, “Iron Mike” believes it can and will happen for Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. Tyson might be bang on the money correct when he says an Ngannou win over Fury (the upcoming, much maligned fight pitting a boxing novice with a man who has been practicing the Noble Art for years and years) would shock the world more so than what happened to him in Tokyo all those years ago, but he surely isn’t when he says Fury will, in the Ngannou fight, be in there with the single hardest hitter he has ever faced.
Tyson of course should know better (and he almost certainly does, but he has to hype the fight, doesn’t he?). Deontay Wilder is certainly a far harder, more destructive and lethal puncher than Ngannou. Tyson though, says Ngannou “only needs to land one or two ” on Fury, and the win will be his.
Maybe, as in upset of the decade longshot maybe.
But can Ngannou land even one shot on Fury, a big, agile man who has shown amazing boxing skill at times? Tyson spoke about the way Fury was dropped by “a little guy earlier in his career.” Tyson was referring to the Steve Cunningham fight. Yes, but Cunningham was a proven talent, a former world champion and a man who had been boxing for years.
Hey, it will be interesting to see what happens IF Ngannou lands a bomb on Fury’s chin. But it will be more interesting seeing if Fury allows this to happen. Because this fight is absolutely Fury’s to lose, not Ngannou’s to win.
Mike Tyson surely knows this. The fact that Tyson us training Ngannou does add something to the October fight. But maybe not enough for plenty of fans, both boxing and MMA.
Will YOU be buying the pay-per-view on October 28th? By the way, has the P-P-V price tag been announced yet?