Francis Ngannou‘s upcoming boxing match against Tyson Fury on October 28 in Saudi Arabia has made waves in the combat world. Ngannou had been looking to fight Fury since he was in the UFC, and hype for it started building after Fury called out the Cameroonian from the ring following his victory over Dillian Whyte.
Ngannou will fight the WBC champion Tyson Fury in a ten-round boxing match under the official Queensberry Rules of boxing. But Tyson’s belt will not be on the line. The bout will be held to see who ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ is. In an interview, the heavyweight also shed light on whether he would consider going with one of the established boxing promoters in the future.
Francis Ngannou gives his thoughts on boxing promoters
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On Ariel Helwani‘s MMA Hour show, the journalist asked Francis if he had considered going with boxing promoters like Conor McGregor’s friend Eddie Hearn or Bob Arum.
“Did you seriously consider going with another promoter? I know you spoke to Eddie Hearn, the Bob Arum’s out there. I know Dimitri Salida reached out. Did you ever consider teaming up because, at this point correct me if I’m wrong, you’re not with any promoter, right? This is just you and GIMIK fight and your team?” he asked Francis.
Francis clarified that he was with his promotion, GIMIK? and had been in talks with established boxing promoters, but preferred his current promotion.
“I am with a promotion. I am with GIMIK fight promotion. What are you talking about? I get it, I get it. I mean like one of the you know the older boxing guys, yeah, I hear what you’re saying. No and I think that was like why everybody was trying to kick this fight out because they feel like they wasn’t part of it,” he said.
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He believes other promoters were trying to play down the fight as they were not part of its promotion, and he did not want to go with the established promoters as he valued his autonomy and independence.
“We really didn’t consider maybe work with somebody that was our uh our idea but everybody was like, okay come to me. I’m like no I can come with you, not to you.. No, I want to be my own boss.” he declared.
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Ngannou left the UFC because of differences over fighter pay, sponsorships, and health insurance. He felt the promotion did not treat its fighters fairly, nor represent their interests. This was one of the main factors behind the former UFC heavyweight champion signing with PFL. It seems he will not be part of any existing boxing promoter’s stable and work with his GIMIK promotions for the foreseeable future.
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