Francis Ngannou made Tyson Fury request to Mike Tyson four years before fight | CPT PPP Coverage

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Legendary heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has been drafted in as a coach for Ngannou’s upcoming super-fight with his namesake Fury in Saudi Arabia next month

Francis Ngannou requested Mike Tyson be in his corner for a fight with Tyson Fury – four years before the bout was announced.

The hard-hitting heavyweight wasn’t even a top contender for the UFC belt as he was in the process of rebuilding from his pair of losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis when he met Tyson towards the end of 2019. But he asked in a private moment if the legend would corner him for a fight with his namesake, who at the time was preparing for a rematch with Deontay Wilder.

And now, four years on, the pair have linked up, with ‘Iron Mike’ training Ngannou for his first ever boxing bout. He is a huge underdog for the Saudi Arabian showdown with Fury, and went head-to-head with his rival for the first time yesterday at a plush London press conference.

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“Four years ago I met Mike Tyson for the very first time and for many of you that know me, know that for me Mike Tyson is the best to have ever done this,” Ngannou told the media yesterday. “In our conversation, one thing I precisely requested from Mike Tyson, was that whenever I fight Tyson Fury, would he be in my corner?

“Everyone looked at me as a fool to even think of fighting Tyson Fury but today it is happening. From the moment it was announced officially that Im fighting Tyson Fury, I hit up Mike Tyson. I’m like, ‘Bro, that thing became true, this is it.’ It’s something magical, I grew up with Mike Tyson as the face of boxing and I get to the point where for my first boxing match… I was in the gym training, thinking, “Is this real?”

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“Mike Tyson is in my corner for my first boxing match, this is real, I’m living the dream. The motivation, the wisdom, the knowledge he brings is unique. He has been there tens of times, hundreds of times, so he knows a lot about the game and if theres one person I can trust as far as boxing is concerned, it’s Mike Tyson.”

Ngannou has always wanted to box, but was restricted by a tight UFC contract that kept him tied down for a year after he fought out his deal last January. For that world title defence, which headlined a pay-per-view event in front of a packed out KIA Forum, he was paid just $600,000, a fraction of the eight-figure sum he will earn for fighting Fury.