The fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world will have to wait, as WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury has an exhibition arranged with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, but there’s a condition to the fight.
Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou will have “no takedowns” says Hearn
Matchroom Boxing headline Eddie Hearn has revealed that the long-awaited unification fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will not happen anytime soon, as the Brit has other plans.
“Yeah, I think so, this is what I heard,” Hearn told Boxing Social when asked about the Fury vs. Ngannou fight rumors. “It will appear to be an exhibition, no takedowns. I don’t know, I’m just saying what I’ve heard”.
In recent times, Fury has said at different times that he would be willing to face Ngannou, and even expressed that he will fight both Ngannou as well as Jon Jones, the current UFC heavyweight champ, on the same night.
The fight between Fury and Ngannou will be an exhibition fight and is expected to generate massive revenue, but the undisputed heavyweight fight against the WBA, WBO and IBF titlist Usyk remains the most anticipated.
“It would be nice to have an undisputed champion,” Hearn went on, “but Tyson is in charge of his own career and I’m sure he’ll make a lot of money, good luck to him”.
A few months ago, the fight between Fury and Usyk seemed very close to materializing, but the disagreement over the financial conditions for the rematch, even before the first fight, caused the negotiations to be halted.
In recent weeks, there have been conversations regarding a million-dollar offer from Saudi Arabia to make the fight between Fury and Usyk in December, but everything seems to indicate that the WBC champion will have to commit to the Ngannou fight before that.