UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou panned comments made by his former trainer Fernand Lopez regarding a possible boxing run.
As World Boxing News reported earlier this month, Lopez stated Ngannou needs “three years” of nothing but boxing training to be ready for Tyson Fury.
Ngannou, who is preparing to face Ciryl Gane alongside his now coach Lopez on January 23, reacted with a vicious tongue.
“Ciryl and in particular Fernand Lopez have tried to distract me,” Ngannou told Stake. “But they know their only approach is to come physiologically to try and get inside my head and under my skin.
“That is all they have got, and it is a huge thing for them. But I am a champion and bypass whatever they are doing. It means nothing to me.
“Fernand has said he knows my weaknesses, but that is the whole problem with him. He may think he knows me well, but he knows s**t.
“He does not know me at all – even when we were together, he didn’t know because all he tried to know was himself, not me.”
Francis Ngannou vs Fury
On his potential to battle Fury, he added: “Me and Tyson Fury may fight in 2023. It will be challenging, but I will throw some bombs at him that he will not have experienced before.
“I don’t know exactly when Tyson and I will fight. But I think maybe sometime in 2023. I am still under contract with UFC, so I don’t know right now the state of my situation or how it will play out.
“But I will say it will probably happen at some point. I definitely want to do it, but we don’t have control over it right now.
“I know it will be very tough when we fight. Not only am I coming from a distant sport, but I am testing myself against one of the best, if not the best, boxer ever.
“But I’m not thinking of fighting someone like Ciryl Gane the same way as I would fight Tyson Fury.
“I am confident. But it will be something totally different and new for me.
“Fury has proven he can last a very long time in a fight – but I am sure I will throw some bombs at him that he will not have experienced before.”
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