John Fury, father of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is not expecting a complete mismatch when his son faces MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion, will make his professional boxing debut against Fury, in a non-title bout, on October 28 in Saudi Arabia.
While most observers are predicting a one-sided wipeout, John Fury believes the fight will be competitive.
“I hold him in the highest esteem and the highest regard. He’s world champion at his game, he’s taking on the best in the world, taking it seriously and I do believe he’s going to bring the smoke,” John Fury told Seconds Out via freebets.com.
“I’m expecting Tyson to come out with a broken leg or a broken arm. He’s not going to come out unscathed and I’m glad they’re paying him well because if they weren’t paying him well I wouldn’t put him in against Francis Ngannou. He’s going to get knocked about, Tyson, and he knows that, exhibition my backside – they’re going to kill each other them pair.”
To get properly prepared for the upcoming bout, Ngannou hired former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson as head trainer.
The elder Fury has a mountain of respect for Mike Tyson – and named his son, Tyson, in honor of the Hall of Famer.
He feels Mike Tyson will bring a lot to the table for Ngannou.
“Bear in mind he’s got Mike Tyson there and he wants to impress Mike Tyson. And then Tyson [Fury] has got an ego as big as Morecambe so the stage is set for a battle royal,” John Fury said.
“He couldn’t have a better mentor in his camp than the great Mike Tyson, I’m sure Mike will show him the boxing moves he needs.”