By:  | October 27, 2023 6:56 am

Tyson Fury has never fought an opponent making his debut. The Englishman has been facing the best heavyweights on the planet for the past few years but is going up against a man with no prior boxing experience this weekend.

He faces Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia. His opponent is a former UFC heavyweight champion and has been working with Mike Tyson but Fury plans to teach him a lesson this weekend,

“There’s levels to the game. And he’s going to find out my level on Saturday night.”

No fear

Ngannou has never previously competed in boxing as either a pro or an amateur. He has won 12 out of his 20 MMA fights by KO or TKO and has a reputation for being a hard hitter.

Ngannou surely won’t put on quite as farcical a performance as mixed martial artist Dilon Danis did in his boxing debut recently. But Fury says that big, strong opponents hold no fear for him,

“He’s a big, strong guy (and) he’s got a good punch. But so am I, I’m a big, strong guy otherwise, I wouldn’t be the world heavyweight champion.”

Light hearted

Fury can seldom be accused of taking life too seriously. He attempted to tickle Ngannou during the face off and clearly did not feel the need to try and intimidate the former UFC heavyweight champion.

He had more to say about Ngannou’s wardrobe than his boxing ability,

“I see he’s taken a bit of advice from me with the clothes he’s wearing. He’s looking a bit snazzy. They say the finest form of flattery is imitation. And he’s got his suit on with no shirt on, and I started that! So, he’s imitating. But, there’s one thing I say, and it’s that many will imitate, but no one will ever replicate. Because there’s only one Gypsy King.”

With absolutely no footage to review preparing for Ngannou has been an unusual challenge. But he has been training with SugarHill Steward in the US and is very confident he will finish the former UFC heavyweight champion,

“How do I prepare for a guy like this? It’s pretty difficult, but in America we say ‘I’m gonna knock a motherfucker out’ and that’s how we do it. I’ve been working with SugarHill to knock him out cold on Saturday night, and I have no doubt in my mind that I will knock him out.”