Boxing icon Tyson has appeared with ring newcomer Ngannou in the build-up to the fight, which takes place in Saudi Arabia on October 28………
Ngannou has even goaded Fury by saying it is “too bad” for the WBC champion that Tyson “loves me more than him.
” Here’s the role Tyson is expected to play in the fight, how he has been involved with Ngannou and what the American has said about Event co-organiser Turki Al-Sheikh announced on Instagram in August that Tyson would be training Ngannou for the fight, with the former heavyweight boxing champion calling it “no secret” that he “100%” backs Ngannou for an unlikely win.
“He isn’t a combat novice,” Tyson said of the man who started out as a boxer but never competed professionally in pugilism, winning his MMA heavyweight titles with the UFC.
“The key will be combining his energy and combat skills into his punches and using his agility to move swiftly around the ring then delivering the knock-out blow.
We’re here to win.
” Tyson has since been seen bobbing and weaving with Ngannou in a training ring.
“Bringing Mike Tyson into my training camp is one of the best decisions I can make to prepare for Tyson Fury,” Ngannou said at the time, echoing Fury’s position by calling Tyson “an idol of mine in the sport.
” “His experience and boxing IQ will be important to honing my technique under his guidance to win this super-fight
I’ve been wanting this fight for years and now that it’s here, I’m focused on fighting the greatest fight of my career and shocking the world on the most epic stage for the fans in Riyadh.
” New Professional Fighters League signing Ngannou is rightly revered in MMA, winning 13 of his 15 UFC fights on a run only interrupted in 2018, when he suffered successive decision defeats.
He still holds a record he set in 2018 for the hardest punch in the world, and his fight with Fury has been marketed as a meeting for the right to be known as the ‘baddest man on the planet’.
That title is also a nod to the fact that Tyson — himself experienced in odd encounters, having faced Roy Jones Jr.
at the age of 54 while on magic mushrooms — is training Ngannou.
Tyson, whose analysis was hardly revelatory when he pointed out that a win for Ngannou would be more of an upset than his shock defeat in 1990 to a 35-fight boxer, Buster Douglas, is expected to be in Ngannou’s corner in Riyadh.
“We are not the same size,” said Ngannou, who reportedly weighed 290 pounds (131.5kg) a year ago, speaking in London.
“We don’t have the same style.
He takes that into consideration. “He’s there from time to time.
It’s not training with Mike Tyson every day.
He will come for a couple of days, teach me different stuff and leave. How to move, how to carry your weight, how to go around and get closer and get your punch position.
“There are some points that are very important and similar for everyone’s style.
What he is helping me to do is sharpen my style and be better and more efficient with it.
“You’ll never see Mike Tyson’s style from anyone.
It’s unique. Most champions today don’t have half of what Mike Tyson had.
You can’t just say ‘I have a fight in three months, I will fight like Mike Tyson.
‘ You would be a fool” A video shared less than a week before the fight by X17online purportedly showed Tyson leaving Los Angeles’ LAX Airport for Saudi Arabia.
The world’s first Mike Tyson Boxing Gym will open in Saudi Arabia as part of the Riyadh Season series of events which the fight is part of, according to Arabian Business, which said that the facility will be run by British trainer Joe Gallagher. In the U.S., Fury vs. Ngannou is available on ESPN+ PPV.
It is available via TNT Sports Box Office in the U.K. and DAZN in Australia.
