Tyson Fury says defeat to Francis Ngannou is unthinkable – ‘I’m never going to be able to show my face in public’

Fury takes on the former UFC heavyweight champion in Riyadh, and explained the sheer scale of what he is putting on the line against Ngannou.

Defeat to an MMA fighter, regardless of his standing as a former UFC heavyweight title holder, would be seen as humiliation for the current WBC heavyweight champion.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Fury said: “I only trained six weeks for Deontay Wilder, I’m training 12 weeks for Francis. I need to be on my A-game, because there’s more on the line now than a boxing fight.

“If I lose to a No. 1 contender or another champion, then people would say, oh: ‘he lost to another champion.’ But if I lost to an MMA guy, I’m never going to be able to show my face in public again. There’s going to be ridicule and people are going to chuck it in my face forever.

“There’s more riding on this than there ever has been before. Whether the media wants to take it as a joke or not, make no mistake, Tyson Fury will leave no stone unturned and I will come in at my fittest and strongest I’ve ever been to beat this man.

“If I’m not, and I get knocked out, I want you all to laugh at me. That’s what I want, because I would’ve deserved it.

“The man’s a machine and I’ll give 100% respect.”

Fury still exuded confidence in his ability to power his way past Ngannou, and would welcome the chance to take on the French-Cameroonian fighter in the cage.

“We’re two champions in our prime, neither of us are coming off four losses. We’re doing battle and it’s going to be a good fight,” Fury added in a pre-presser interview on the red carpet.

“I’d like to fight Ngannou in the cage; I think I’d beat him for sure. He’s not a good jiu-jitsu man, he’s not a good wrestler. He’s known for striking and I’m a better striker than him. I’d knock him out in seconds. He’s more of a stand-up striker.”

For Ngannou, it is a chance to enter the world of boxing and the 37-year-old promised fans that he will hold nothing back against Fury on the night.

“I’m very excited and happy,” Ngannou said. “I had a dream as a kid to become a boxer, and now I’m going to box a guy at the peak of the mountain.

“For me, usually I would not pay attention to what’s going on around me, but this is so big that I can’t stop thinking about it.

“History is about to be made in Riyadh on October 28. It’s something that I didn’t see coming, although my dream was that someday it would happen.

“It’s not just going to be a fight, we’re opening up Riyadh Season, so it’s a cultural event that we’re fighting in.

“Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, but what I do know for sure is that I’m going to be out there hunting for this guy’s head to take it off, I guarantee you that.”

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