Francis Ngannou put on a better performance than people expected from him against Tyson Fury. Moreover, he even scored a knockdown against ‘The Gypsy King’ in the third round. Ngannou even mocked the WBC champion after the knockdown, and now he has an explanation for that in a post-fight interview with ESPN.
‘The Predator’ went to the distance against Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He put on a great performance for the star-studded crown. But Francis Ngannou lost the fight via a split decision. However, the most memorable moment of the fight came when the former UFC champion dropped the champion. Let’s see what he had to say about that.
Francis Ngannou reveals why he mocked Tyson Fury after scoring the knockdown
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There is no doubt that ‘The Predator’ left many speechless with his performance against Tyson Fury. However, when it came to the knockdown, Francis Ngannou danced after dropping Fury during the match. He revealed that it was a reply to ‘The Gypsy King’s comment when the fight went underway. Ngannou said, “Well, because when we started, he said, Let’s go to school’. So I was like, ‘I think you’re a bad teacher.'”
Francis Ngannou was sure that people would doubt his abilities to go toe-to-toe against the WBC champion. As such, the knockdown was a message to his critics to show how much he’s capable of inside the squared circle. “I knew he was going to be like that. I knew that everybody doubted my ability to box. It’s going to be like that, you know,” said the Cameroonian-French fighter. Furthermore, Ngannou also revealed that he witnessed a change in Tyson Fury’s attitude as the fight commenced.
‘The Predator’ claims to have witnessed a change in Fury’s attitude towards him
Francis Ngannou mentioned that after scoring the knockdown, Tyson Fury might have changed his approach towards him. Before the fight, the English fighter was confident he would knock out the MMA star. However, as the fight commenced, Fury’s attitude shifted. Ngannou further stated, “I feel the fight as he was going and his attitude was changing basically when I was changing to southpaw. He wasn’t doing anything.”
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The fight also saw Francis Ngannou adopt the southpaw stance. This was an attempt for him to take some rest before going for a big shot at Tyson Fury. Moreover, the Cameroonian-French also stated that he noticed the WBC champion struggling a little bit during the fight. Hence, that opened the window for Ngannou to land some hard-hitting punches. “When I want to rest, I just switch to southpaw. Like, he not doing anything. So, I realized that he was having a struggle right there at that moment, and in the southpaw, I had my right hand [and] my left hand can go pretty good,” the MMA star added.
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There were many skeptical of Ngannou’s decision to box Fury. Nevertheless, he showcased some amazing boxing skills in just a few months of training for his first-ever professional match. Despite not taking a victory home, Ngannou left a lasting impression on the fight fans and there are chances that we might see him boxing again. We will have to wait and see how things unfold in the future for ‘The Predator’.
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