Francis Ngannou calls for Tyson Fury rematch after explicit comments about Jon Jones cross-promotion
Francis Ngannou is hoping to secure a rematch with Tyson Fury at some point in 2025.
The PFL Super Fights heavyweight champion made his boxing debut against Fury in October 2023.
Ngannou shocked the world as he dropped ‘The Gypsy King’ and pushed him to a controversial split decision. ‘The Predator’ was victorious in defeat as it secured him another monster payday to face former two-time world champion boxer Anthony Joshua.
‘AJ’ knocked the ex-UFC star out cold in March. Ngannou returned to MMA to beat Renan Ferreira in October, but now he’s eyeing a third trip to the squared circle after watching Fury lose to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.
Francis Ngannou wants Tyson Fury rematch
Fury’s second successive loss to Usyk seemingly sets up a long-awaited fight with Joshua.
However, Ngannou doesn’t want to talk about the British blockbuster. The 38-year-old wants to get the ball rolling on his potential rematch with Fury, rather than breathe life into a fight between his former opponents.
“What I want to see now is Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou. That’s all what matters for me,” he said during an interview with Pro Boxing Fans on Sunday.
As for the fight itself, Ngannou thought Usyk vs Fury 2 was closer than the judges had it.
Usyk received unanimous 116-12 scorecards from the three ringside officials.
Ngannou added: “I think the fight was pretty close.
“I would have scored the fight closer than that. Maybe Usyk still wins. I mean, at the end of the fight I wasn’t sure that anybody is the winner because everybody could have been the winner. From my scorecard, it was closer than that.”
An AI judge used for the first time during the event had the undefeated Ukrainian by an even wider margin of 118-112, which prompted a crude response from Fury during his post-fight press conference.
Ngannou thinks the technology needs some fine-tuning before it solves boxing’s judging problem.
“AI might be intelligent, but AI doesn’t understand the sport properly,” he continued.
“It’s a man sport, it’s not a machine sport. I think AI is still, regardless of everything, it’s still a machine that operates automatically… I don’t think AI has all the specifics or the data to score a boxing match today.”
Francis Ngannou is done chasing Jon Jones
If Ngannou doesn’t fight Fury, the biggest MMA bout he can put together is with Jon Jones.
However, it seems highly unlikely that the UFC will co-promote with the PFL in 2025.
The UFC heavyweight champion has been a long-term target for Ngannou, but now he’s sick of chasing MMA’s greatest fighter.
When asked about the potential clash by Seconds Out, he replied: “It’s been four years that I’ve been saying it; I’m confused that people keep asking me this question.”
At this point, the interviewer pushed the matter, asking whether there’s any chance whatsoever we could see the bout, to which the fighter, raged: “That’s not my problem, I don’t care about it anymore. If it happens, yes, if it doesn’t, f*** it.”
UFC boss Dana White has ‘100 percent’ guaranteed Jones will face interim UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall next, while Ngannou’s future is a little less clear as he continues to weigh up his options in MMA and boxing.
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