“If You Don’t Quit, You’re Going On to Be…”: Evander Holyfield Reacts to Francis Ngannou Being Ranked No. 10 by WBC Despite Tyson Fury Loss

Right after the Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury bout ended, Mauricio Sulaiman publicly declared that the Cameroonian-French mixed martial artist deserved to be ranked by the WBC. Following this declaration, although Ngannou lost to ‘The Gypsy King’, the former was soon ranked no. 10.

Of course, fans praised Ngannou’s performance against Fury. However, since Ngannou just had his boxing debut, several people thought it was a bit too much that he entered the top ten of WBC’s Heavyweight rankings already. In this context, as IFL TV recently interviewed former Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, ‘The Real Deal’ expressed what he felt about WBC’s decision.

Evander Holyfield hopes Francis Ngannou will get better following WBC’s decision

When Holyfield was an active fighter, it took him several fights before he entered the top ten of his division. In fact, in a recent interview, it was intimately discussed that despite being the no. 1 contender, it took him another six years and 11 fights before he faced then-champion Mike Tyson in the ring. While an individual like Holyfield waited for years to lay his hands on the champion, to reiterate, Ngannou not only fought Fury in his debut but was ranked 10 by the WBC. At this, Holyfield indirectly answered whether or not the decision by the WBC disappointed him.

“The thing is you wanna be the best. So, each and every time you beat somebody, you’re getting better. Everybody falls short at times. But, you just don’t give up,” said Holyfield. “That’s what fighters have to keep reminding themselves. Just don’t quit. And if you don’t quit, you’re going on to be the very best you could be,” he added emphatically.

In this context, besides encouraging Ngannou, Holyfield claimed Fury took Francis for granted in their fight.

Holyfield argues Tyson Fury’s strategy “backfired” on him

Among other stars and legends in the sport, Holyfield was in Riyadh when Tyson Fury locked horns with Francis Ngannou in the ‘Battle of the Baddest’. According to ‘The Real Deal,’ when Fury fought Ngannou, ‘The Gypsy King’ underestimated his opponent. As a result, he did not prepare himself ideally. Likewise, speaking of Fury’s performance, Holyfield said, “It wasn’t well. Maybe, I think he took it for granted.”

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“If you take something for granted it can backfire. I think it backfired on him and hopefully, he learned from that,” he concluded. With that said, what do you make of Holyfield’s reaction to WBC raking Francis? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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