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Francis Ngannou’s trainer was ‘brought to tears’ after Tyson Fury fight payday

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Francis Ngannou brought his coach tears of joy with the amount of money he paid him for his crossover bout against Tyson Fury.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou earned more in his boxing debut against Fury last October than he did in his entire MMA career. Ngannou was being counted out by pundits and fans before the fight but he put on a stunning performance as Fury needed to pick himself up off the canvas to win by a single point in a controversial split decision.

Eric Nicksick has served as one of Ngannou’s main trainers at Xtreme Couture ever since he made the permanent move from Paris to Las Vegas in 2019. The coach explained how he was brought to tears after checking his bank account the morning after Ngannou’s fight against Fury.

“It was the most money I’ve ever been paid by a fighter, it was unbelievable,” Nicksick told MMA Junkie. “It was more than I expected. Obviously, Francis has always taken great care of me, but it floored me. When I saw my Wells Fargo account that morning, it literally brought me to tears.

Tyson Fury

“That’s a true story. Literally brought me to tears, because he changed my life. Not only from a professional standpoint but a monetary standpoint. It allowed me a lot of financial freedom to allow me to be able to enjoy my coaching, enjoy being a dad and a husband.”

“I get to take my kids to Park City this weekend, my daughter’s 16th birthday. It helped us buy a new car. There’s a lot of things with Francis moving over to boxing, and the way he takes care of his team. He loves every single one of us, and he shows it. He takes care of us, and I couldn’t thank him enough.”

Ngannou is holding out for a rematch against Fury but he will be waiting until the final quarter of this year as the Brit is locked into a two-fight deal with fellow heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. Ngannou could be set for a return to the ring in March as he was recently named as a potential opponent for Fury’s domestic rival Anthony Joshua.

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Francis Ngannou being considered as Anthony Joshua opponent for March

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Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou has been named as a potential opponent for Anthony Joshua after his stunning boxing debut against Tyson Fury.

Former UFC champion Ngannou pushed Fury to the brink in their crossover fight last October but lost a controversial decision. Fury was expected to make easy work of Ngannou to set up an undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk just two months later, but he needed to pick himself up off the canvas after being dropped and only won by one point on the judges’ scorecards.

Joshua rebounded after his consecutive defeats to Oleksandr Usyk by winning three fights on the spin last year. ‘AJ’ previously dismissed a ‘gimmick’ fight against Ngannou but the Brit’s promoter Eddie Hearn changed his stance on the fight after Ngannou’s jaw-dropping performance against Fury.

“Right now, we have three fights that we’re in discussions for they’re all big and that doesn’t involve Deontay Wilder,” Hearn said whilst discussing Joshua’s fight plans with iFL TV. “Before March our aim, and we’ve discussed this, is to fight the winner of Fury versus Usyk. That is all we want to do. Obviously there’s a [Filip] Hrgovic fight out there for the world heavyweight title.”

anthony joshua

“There’s a Francis Ngannou fight out there which would be absolutely colossal. There’s other heavyweights as well, the [Zhilei] Zhang fight possibly as well with Queensbury. Our conversations right now are about mapping out Joshua’s next four or five fights. To map out his 2024 and potentially the rest of his career.

Hrgovic is the most likely opponent for Joshua in March as a world title is expected to be on the line for the fight if Usyk is stripped of his IBF belt after facing Fury. Ngannou’s chances of fighting Joshua would be boosted if the Ukrainian’s title isn’t taken away it as Hearn admitted a potential Hrgovic fight could be delayed for ‘AJ’.

“A lot has to happen by March to make that possible with Hrgovic. Are Fury or Usyk going to be able to keep the belt, or do they have to let it go? Is Joshua going to replace [Otto] Wallin in the rankings? There’s a lot of discussion, maybe that’s a fight that when everything plays out could be one for the summer,” he added.

 

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BOXING

Why Tyson Fury ‘regretful’ of Francis Ngannou fight, according to promoter

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Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury’s promoter believes that Francis Ngannou has earned a rematch following their first clash.

The pair fought in October last year and Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion who was making his boxing debut, shocked the world, as he took WBC heavyweight champion Fury the distance and came close to emerging victorious.

Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third round and lost by a narrow split decision, although many people believed the Cameroonian had done enough to claim victory.

As such, Top Rank CEO Todd DuBoef thinks that Ngannou deserves a rematch.

“That’s an earned ability to get the rematch. He earned that,” Du Boef told Sky Sports.

“His performance dictated that, ‘Woah, he has a chance. We never thought he had a chance’ and in that situation I think absolutely.

“I think Tyson is regretful. He blamed himself. He thought he had an off night.

“He said: ‘I took it lightly. It was all on me.’ Didn’t point fingers, which was good.

“Ngannou outperformed anybody’s expectation and as a result of that you have all the components to say, hey, I want to see this again and that creates and warrants a rematch.”

For the time being, however, Fury is occupied as he has an upcoming undisputed heavyweight world title clash with Oleksandr Usyk on February 17.

The bout could see the first undisputed heavyweight champion crowned in the four belt era.

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BOXING

Anthony Joshua: Fury Looked Like a Fat Slob That Can’t Fight, I Think Ngannou Won

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anthony joshua

Former two-time world champion Anthony Joshua has fired off some verbal jabs at his domestic rival, Tyson Fury, over his most recent performance against MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.

Fury has often referred to Joshua as being nothing more than a “bodybuilder” with limited skills.

However, Joshua believes that a bodybuilder, Ngannou, taught Fury a lesson.

“Bodybuilders up, dossers down. He just looked like a flat slob that just can’t fight. He says that bodybuilders can’t fight, but he got smacked up by one. I’ve always wanted to get in the ring with him. He does a lot of talking, calls me a bodybuilder and stuff, but I want to marvel at the African power – he’s a bodybuilder, steps in and smacks him up for me,” Joshua told TNT Sports Boxing.

Back in October, Fury faced Ngannou in a cr

Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou

ossover boxing match in Saudi Arabia. Fury was dropped in the third round, suffered a cut on his forehead from an uppercut, a badly bruised eye and he struggled with the style of Ngannou. After ten rounds, Fury came away with a razor-close ten round split decision win in a fight that most had expected to be a mismatch.

Joshua felt Ngannou did enough to pull off an upset.

“I think Ngannou won,” Joshua said. “But the judges are there for a reason, they score it how they score it and they’re professionals at what they do and I’m just an observer. Fury won, but from a fan’s point of view, I think Ngannou won.”

On December 23, Joshua will face Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia. Wallin’s sole defeat came at the hands of Fury. A win over Walling will place Joshua in position for a potential 2024 clash with Deontay Wilder, who appears in the co-feature in a crossroads clash against Joseph Parker.

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Eddie Hearn says he reached out to Francis Ngannou’s team about Anthony Joshua fight: ‘Never heard back’

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Anthony and Francis

Anthony Joshua’s longtime promoter claims to have had plenty of interest in booking Joshua against Francis Ngannou after the former UFC heavyweight champion nearly defeated Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut.

Unfortunately, according to Matchroom Sport headman Eddie Hearn, that interest went unrequited.

“I reached out to Francis Ngannou’s team and I said, ‘Just to let you know, we’re up for discussing the Francis Ngannou [vs.] AJ fight. I never heard back from them,” Hearn said Monday on The MMA Hour. “So I think probably, knowing the business, I would say that probably Fury-Ngannou is almost probably agreed to post Fury-[Oleksandr] Usyk already.

“[Ngannou will] feel like, after that first fight, he can beat Fury, but there’s no point [in boxing non-stars] — he can really lose to anybody in the top 50 at heavyweight, so you’ve got to cash in at this point, and there’s really only three fights that cash into the levels that he will want [Fury, Joshua, or Deontay Wilder]. So I’d guess, and you might know better, Francis Ngannou will fight in the PFL or wherever in spring, summer of 2024, and then he’ll fight Tyson Fury at the end of [2024]. I would think that would be the mindset of the team.”

Anthony Joshua

“I think everyone knows it’s a two-fight deal with Fury-Usyk,” Hearn added, “and I would think that there’s probably one on the back end as well to rematch Ngannou.”

Ngannou, 37, nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in combat sports history this past October when he fought to a controversial split decision against Fury. Despite being a sizable betting underdog, Ngannou pushed Fury to his limits and even knocked down boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion in a performance that blew away the expectations of many and left boxing lifers such as Hearn and Carl Frampton singing his praises. Immediately following the bout, Hearn publicly lobbied for Joshua vs. Ngannou to be next, stating that he believed the matchup could be “one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport,” especially if it was held in in Africa, where both fighters have roots.

However, the fight never came together. Joshua instead signed to face Otto Wallin on the Day of Reckoning card in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 23., an event that features another of Ngannou’s potential opponents — Deontay Wilder — in a co-headlining bout against Joseph Parker. If Joshua and Wilder both emerge victorious, Hearn reiterated his hope on Monday that the long-awaited clash between Joshua and Wilder could be the next step.

Ngannou’s next move remains uncertain, however Fury is set to face WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight champ Oleksandr Usyk in a much-anticipated title unification bout on Feb. 17.

anthony joshua

While much of shine on Fury has been washed away since his lackluster showing against Ngannou, Hearn still favors boxing’s lineal king to handles his business against Usyk.

“I really believed he was quite a strong favorite pre-Ngannou,” Hearn said of Fury. “We don’t really know physically where he’s at. I mean, he’s lucky that Usyk’s not a puncher, he’s lucky Usyk’s a much smaller man. Because I think against a bigger guy, against a puncher, against a guy that can wrestle him on the inside, I think his confidence really wouldn’t be there in a fight like that. So I do think Fury will win the fight, but you certainly can’t rule out Usyk, and we just don’t know where he’s at physically or mentally after a fight like that [Ngannou performance]. He didn’t look himself in that fight, but perhaps he was just ill prepared.”

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Francis Ngannou open to Deontay Wilder, Anthony Joshua fights in boxing or mixed rules: ‘I’m the one that can go everywhere’

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Francis Nnganou

Francis Ngannou still wants the biggest challenges available to him, but he understands when it comes to potential opponents like Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua that he will either have to face them in boxing or concede to mixed rules to make it a fair fight.

While he prefers a rematch with heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury more than anything else, Ngannou has other options available to him after nearly pulling off the upset of the century in his professional boxing debut. Despite losing a split decision to Fury in October, Ngannou suddenly became an attractive opponent for a lot of top-ranked boxers including Joshua, who promised to knock out the former UFC champ if they ever meet.

“Even Tyson Fury said the same thing and Tyson Fury is better than Anthony Joshua,” Ngannou said in response while speaking on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast. “What do I care about what people say?

“I’ve been in this game for so long. I’ve seen so much. I’ve heard so much what people intend to do. There’s a difference between wanting to do and be able to do.”

Anthony and Francis

If Joshua wants to fight, Ngannou has no problem accepting that challenge, although he expects that it’d have to be in a boxing match because the 2012 Olympic gold medalist wouldn’t have a hope if they actually competed against one another in MMA.

Ngannou says that’s ultimately what separates him from the best boxers in the world — he can set foot in their ring and give them everything they can handle, but there’s no chance anyone from boxing could actually have a realistic chance against him in MMA.

“Anything that he wants. Ring or octagon,” Ngannou said of Joshua. “The good thing is I’m the one that can go everywhere comfortably. My comfort zone will be the octagon, but I’m going to the ring and putting them in a bad spot in the ring.

“Because I have my territory [in MMA] where they cannot mess with me. If they come, they will need something like some favor, like, ‘I’ll give you this, we’ll take kicks out.’ I have to give him something. But when we step in the ring, they don’t give me anything and I still get them in trouble.”

The same goes for Wilder, although Ngannou has more faith in him than Joshua when it comes to the potential to give somebody trouble in MMA.

Francis And Tyson

Wilder, who faces Joseph Parker on the same card as Joshua in December, has shown interest in potentially crossing over to MMA previously. PFL co-founder Donn Davis even teased Wilder vs. Ngannou as a mixed-rules fight that could possibly happen in 2024.

“Let’s say he’s not fighting me, he’s fighting somebody else,” Ngannou said of Wilder in MMA. “I look at the profile of that fighter, I put my money on Deontay. Basically, even just as a boxer, basically now that he’s really intent on doing MMA and [he’s] training, I’d put money on him.

“Because he just needs to cut somebody to land a punch. It could also be a mixed rules [fight]. We were thinking of mixed rules. Because honestly it’s going to be too hard for him if it’s not mixed rules.”

Ngannou believes Wilder is a realistic opponent in boxing or MMA, but he’s still awaiting word on who will end up as his next opponent.

“Even before this Tyson fight, we were talking with [Deontay Wilder],” Ngannou said. “He’s also willing to fight me in MMA. For real.”

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Zhilei Zhang says his punches would be a ‘disaster’ for Tyson Fury after watching him struggle against Francis Ngannou

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Zhilei Zhang believes that Tyson Fury would not be able to cope with his power.

Throughout his career, Fury has found himself down on the canvas, but has always managed to get up.

First against Neven Pajkic, then against Steve Cunningham, he was dropped four times across three fights by Deontay Wilder and most recently ‘The Gypsy King’ was floored by former UFC heavyweight champion and boxing debutante Francis Ngannou.

With that being said, Fury is still undefeated, but Zhang is confident that against him, the Brit would not hear the final bell.

After watching Fury’s fight against Ngannou, Zhang told the Town Bizznizz sports and ent YouTube channel: “I think Tyson Fury probably never trained for the Ngannou fight. It was not the Fury we know, it was a totally different person.

“If you look at his career, he’s got hit, he’s got dropped, and my punches are not a joke.

“When my punches land, it’s going to be a disaster for him.”

This comes as following his duo of knockout victories over Joe Joyce earlier this year, Zhang now wants to take on the big names in the heavyweight division, including Fury.

“I always wanted to get the big four names,” Zhang continued. “Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder but they don’t want to fight me. They are running away from me.”

Unfortunately for Zhang, it may not be a case of the other heavyweights running from him, rather there is just a long list of potential opponents and they are all otherwise occupied.

Joshua’s next fight will come against Otto Wallin, while Wilder will take on Joseph Parker on the same card on December 23 in Saudi Arabia, with a view that should they emerge victorious, both AJ and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will clash next year.

Meanwhile, Fury and Usyk are due to battle it out for the undisputed heavyweight world titles on February 17.

And then the obvious next step would be for the winner of that fight to go head-to-head with the winner of a potential Joshua vs Wilder clash.

Although, boxing is notoriously unpredictable, so Zhang will be hoping that somewhere along the line one of these bouts doesn’t go to plan and he can secure a dream fight.

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