Francis Ngannou offered four words when he was asked Thursday what will happen if he lands a flush punch on Tyson Fury next month.
“Good night,” Ngannou replied during their press conference in London. “Lights off.”
An unfazed Fury acknowledged that he won’t know until Ngannou lands a clean shot on him during their 10-round exhibition October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia whether the former UFC heavyweight champion punches harder than Deontay Wilder or Wladimir Klitschko, the two pulverizing punchers Fury defeated in title fights over the past 7½ years. England’s Fury also reminded Ngannou that he has emerged as the best heavyweight of this era because he mostly avoids punches and has gotten up when Wilder drilled him with devastating shots.
“Listen, the guy’s a big puncher,” Fury told Queensberry Promotions’ Dev Sahni, who moderated the press conference. “You can see he’s very big and strong and very well built. But, you know, I’ve fought big punchers before, like Deontay Wilder, and I even fought the old ‘Dr. Steelhammer,’ Wladimir Klitschko. And the one thing that both of them had in common were they both were massive punchers, but they both couldn’t land it when it counted.”
Fury feels Ngannou, who will make his professional boxing debut, will deal with the same frustration Fury’s defense caused Klitschko in a 12-round fight Fury won by unanimous decision in November 2015. Ukraine’s Klitschko was a 4-1 favorite who had won 22 straight fights and owned at least one world title for 9½ years when Fury upset him at Esprit Arena in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Fury remains undefeated (33-0-1, 24 KOs) almost eight years after his career-changing victory over Klitschko.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pound Ngannou has displayed power in MMA matches, 12 of which he has won by knockout. The Cameroon-born Ngannou has been especially effective with his left uppercut, yet the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Fury’s upper body movement, very impressive for a boxer his size, enables the WBC champion to slip punches much more often than not.
“It’s OK being a big, strong puncher and hitting a target that don’t move,” Fury said. “But it’s pretty difficult hitting this hand at full power when it’s moving like that. So, you can’t hit what you can’t see. And, you know, I’m not the best at what I do because I’m easy to hit. I’m the best at what I do because I’m the most elusive world champion in history. And that’s facts. ESPN will back that up.
“So, yeah, if [Ngannou] can land it on me, he’s definitely got good aim and he’s been training. I don’t think he can. I don’t think anyone can land it on me. That’s a fact. And if they do, I’ll just get back up. Because I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down. And that’s what it is, so yeah, can’t wait.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.