Ngannou’s former coach Fernand Lopez told about possible boxing fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou
The UFC’s heavyweight champion accepted a shock call out from “The Gypsy King” on social media last week.
But the Predator’s old coach Fernand Lopez reckons he’d need to immerse himself in the sweet science the next three years to have any hope of hanging with the WBC heavyweight champ.
The MMA Factory chief said: “I think the fight makes sense for Francis because he thinks he can cash out. There’s also something there for Tyson Fury – he doesn’t care that it’s not a competitive fight, he just wants to make money and make some news.”
“It would take at least three years for Francis Ngannou to be competitive from a boxing standpoint with Tyson Fury, and I mean three years only dedicated to boxing. Realistically he would have to stop everything else and probably do nothing else for three years, only boxing. No grappling, nothing else.”
Ngannou, 34, has shown conditioning problems in the past and Lopez reckons they’d rear their head in a fight with Fury.
Fernand Lopez added: “The way that his body and muscles are built, it will not allow him to keep throwing punches after the third round. I’m not sure Francis can ever challenge the stamina or endurance of Tyson Fury.”
Should the shock bout come to fruition, Lopez can only see former lineal heavyweight champ Fury having his hand raised.
Fernand Lopez said: “All he can do is have a high defence; be elusive, close footwork, change direction. But eventually Tyson will wear him down, get him tired, work the body and then go up with the uppercut, and sooner or later Francis will give up because of the volume, because of the pressure shots and he will just go down. I don’t see how he can win the match, this is an opportunity for him to cash out.”
“I’m not sure if you’re a UFC fighter it’s worth letting it all go and have three years of steady boxing training – how would you live your life, what would be your income? And after three years you may be competitive enough to stand there and keep throwing punches. We are not expecting anything brilliant, Francis is not a boxer. You train a lot to be a boxer. Boxing needs dedication, boxing needs sacrifice, you need years and years to train. So we know the outcome of that fight.”
That being said, Lopez reckons his former student – who is said to be out of contract at the end of the year – could make a bumper payday fighting Fury.
He said: “The question is how much Francis Ngannou can make a lot of money, because he only has one shot. Objectively speaking, he cannot think about having a boxing career because his boxing skill will not be enough for him to become a boxer. Francis Ngannou wants to move over to boxing but that can only happen if he’s the champ.””If he leaves the UFC and he’s not the champion, no matter which company he wants to go to, it won’t look good. We have to keep that in mind. You can’t ask for a new contract with a clause that allows you to go boxing, it makes no sense. And you cannot impose this on the UFC now you are a big name just because you want to cash in – those are not the terms of the agreemen”
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