Francis Ngannou recently said he’d like to get Mike Tyson’s help while preparing to box Tyson Fury. And “Iron” Mike sounds more than willing to give it to him.
Heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury, is named after boxing legend, Mike Tyson, but that connection isn’t enough to stop “Iron” Mike from helping Francis Ngannou in his quest to beat Fury when they fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 28, 2023.
In a recent chat with TMZ Sports, Ngannou shared some potential high-profile training partners for his cross-sports battle against Fury in the Middle East this fall.
“I think getting some advice or some training from Mike Tyson would be good,” Ngannou said. “I also think of somebody like Lennox Lewis, which could be good. I love his boxing style, very basic but very sharp, efficient. One-two [punches], all that stuff. Classic but very good. I love stuff like that. So yes, one of those guys, we are definitely reaching out.”
In an interview with ESNews, Tyson sounded on board with helping Ngannou do his best when he steps into the boxing ring for the first time.
“I’d like to do that — that’d be cool,” Tyson said. “I’d like that, yeah. I’d like that.
“I think anything’s possible,” Tyson continued, regarding Ngannou’s chances. “He has a hard punch.”
For the most part, Ngannou sounds like he’s sticking with his old mixed martial arts (MMA) team at XTreme Couture that led him to UFC’s Heavyweight title.
“I have a great team around me, I have people that I have chosen mostly based on the energy that we keep on the team,” Ngannou told TMZ Sports. “And I think I’m going to keep the same team around for the same reason. Although I think we need outside expertise, we need to move some things around, make some changes because this is a new game for all of us.
“None of us have been prepared for something like this in the past so we gonna take as much help as needed to reinforce our team,” he concluded. “But, the same team is staying.”