Under mer än ett år har Francis Ngannou och Tyson Fury pratat om att mötas i en boxningsmatch. Oväntat nog började snacket sina när Ngannnou väl blev kontraktslös och fri att gå matchen. Nu berätta MMA-stjärnan hur matchen trots detta kom att bokas denna månad.
Francis Ngannou berättar hur snabbt Tyson Fury-matchen bokades
Tyson Fury såg ett tag ut att istället möta den andre världsmästaren i tungvikt Oleksandr Usyk medan Francis Ngannou såg ut att möta Deontay Wilder. Det kom därför som en överraskning när det förra veckan annonserades att den tidigare UFC-mästaren kommer att Fury i en boxningsmatch den 28 oktober och enligt Ngannou kändes nyheten plötsligt för att förhandlingarna ägde rum snabbt.
Ngannou förklarade följande till The MMA Hour:
It really started one month ago, five weeks ago. And then I received a call from [a representative] in Saudi and he was like, ‘They want to do this fight. Let’s meet in New York.’ At that time, I wasn’t very excited. I was like, OK, let’s find out what’s going on. … We get to New York, we start to meet people, and we start to talk.
It was quick. The negotiation went on and off less than two weeks.
Det har dock funnits motsägelsefulla rapporter om detaljerna kring matchen men det som bekräftats för tillfället är att matchen kommer bli 10 ronder och under traditionella boxningsregler. Matchen kommer dock inte innefatta 4 uns regler eller MMA-klausuler som det tidigare pratats om.
Ngannou bekräftade rapporten om att matchen kommer att vara en professionell sådan som kommer att synas på båda herrarnas records. Furys WBC-bälte kommer dock inte stå på spel:
It’s a real fight. It’s going to be a fight. The only difference is there’s not going to be a title on the line. But it’s a real fight, it’s going on our records.
The title is not on the line. That’s another discussion, which is going to take a lot inside the WBC. In order to make this fight happen, there would be a lot parties involved and this fight wouldn’t happen. So it was like, ‘OK, we have to get this quick and done.’ So it was about making this fight happen first. I wouldn’t have any guarantee if there would be a title and all of this, and then you’ve got to get all those people involved at that moment. From now on, we can have that discussion, because the fight is on. Then we can have another discussion and see if that’s something to be considered. But if not, what matters is the fight. I was going for the fight, I wasn’t going for the title. So for me, personally, nothing changes.
I don’t even care. I just want the fight. I want the fight, I got the fight. I will put everything out there on Oct. 28. I will take everything with me in that octagon and leave it in there, and that will be my title.
Förstår de som hatar matchen
Huruvida titeln står på spel kan mycket väl vara irrelevant. Ngannou är dock en rejäl underdog mot Fury och med rätta. Engelsmannen betraktas som en av de främsta boxarna i sin generation och den främste tungviktaren just nu medan detta blir kamerunske Ngannous första professionella boxningsmatch. Även Ngannou förstår dock att många inom boxningsvärlden föraktar matchningen:
In this case, I will not say it’s haters. I think they are right. They have the guy on the other side that is the top of the sport and on [my] side, they have this guy that they’ve never seen in a boxing match. Some of them, those boxing fans, they might never have even watched my fights. So for them it’s like, ‘What’s going on? Who is this guy?’ Which makes sense. I would be asking the same questions.
And of course, some people in the boxing world will be upset because it’s the position that they wanted to get and they expected to be in line, and they have this guy who is climbing in another tree and suddenly he jumps and gets to the top of the tree that they want to get on top [of]. ‘He didn’t even stand in line!’ So of course that would frustrate them.
Kommer vara väl förberedd
Oavsett så planerar Ngannou i oktober att även frustrera Fury. Men även om de flesta bara ger Ngannou chansen att vinna vid en lyckoträff så förbereder sig MMA-stjärnan för alla eventualiteter i ringen:
It can play out different ways, but I think he’s going to try to play me on the distance, and maybe drag him to decision. I know a lot of people are just giving me a chance if I randomly connect or something, but I’m also working in case we go to a decision. Obviously, I would have to break his distance, because he’s pretty good at controlling the distance and everything. I will constantly try to break that and have to expose myself and get in.
It’s a tough one, but I really want to win this, even if it goes to decision. I don’t want to give him space to make him feel comfortable. He’s pretty good when he’s comfortable, when he’s there, relaxing. He’s pretty good, but let’s see how he reacts when you apply pressure, not just trying to land some big punch, but keep pushing. I think that will be my approach.
Även om han skulle bli grundligt besegrad av Fury så anser Ngannou också att han redan vunnit genom att få matchen bokad:
I stayed patient, I kept my mouth shut, because walk in silence and let the result make the noise for you. The result is making the noise, and at the end of the day, I get the win.
Det återstår att se hur Ngannou kommer stå sig mot Fury.
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