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Francis Ngannou has an incredibly tall task ahead of him when he steps into the ring on Saturday to make his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury.
Ngannou, a former UFC heavyweight champion, is an elite athlete with the type of knockout power that strikes fear into his opponents.
But Fury is the WBC heavyweight champion for a reason and has beaten the best of the best in the boxing world.
Despite that fact, Conor McGregor still believes that Ngannou has a legitimate shot to walk out with the victory.
“Francis has power,” McGregor said on Twitter. “Francis has big power with a striker’s mentality. If it gets a bit tougher for him in the later rounds, the striker mentality will withstand versus if it was a mixed martial artist’s mentality. With power, with that anything can happen.”
McGregor also touted Ngannou having Mike Tyson in his corner as a reason that he could pull off the upset.
“Mike Tyson in the corner — that type of style could be a kryptonite of a long, rangy distance type of fighter in Tyson Fury,” McGregor explained. “I don’t think Tyson Fury is going to want to let Francis test his power on him.
“Has Mike Tyson given some tips on how to get inside, change an angle, to bang a shot that clips the top of the temple, to make it into an interesting bout?”
Lastly, McGregor said that Ngannou’s style and mentality should be an asset against Fury.
“Francis Ngannou for me is more of a kickboxer/boxer than he is a mixed martial artist, in my opinion,”McGregor said. “He’s more of a standup fighter than he is a mixed martial artist. You start throwing in grappling with Francis, it’s never good for him. He has a striker’s mentality. This will stand to him in this bout.
“He has a tall ask with Tyson Fury but any man can land a shot. Tyson does get hit. It’s going to be a tough ask. I’m excited to see it unfold.”
Fury is undefeated in his pro boxing career, boasting a 33-0-1 record. But he has been challenged.
Deontay Wilder sent Fury to the canvas not once, but twice in their 2018 fight that ended in draw. But Fury came back and defeated Wilder via TKO in the rematch and knockout in the trilogy.
So Fury can be hit. It’s just a matter of whether Ngannou is capable of doing so.