Francis Ngannou will weigh more for Tyson Fury fight than the UFC weight limit
24/10/2023 13:13
Francis Ngannou will be bigger than ever for his boxing debut.
The former UFC champion is in the final stage of camp ahead of his crossover bout against WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Ngannou has spent most of his career competing in the UFC where a 265lb [18.9 stone] weight limit on its heavyweight fighters is in force.
Free from the constraints of MMA's premier promotion, 'The Predator' is planning to hit the scales heavier than he's been for a fight since 2015.
"270lbs [19.3 stone]," Ngannou replied when asked what he would weigh for his fight with Fury during an appearance on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour.
"Yeah, 270lbs. I really haven't been getting my weight down. We made sure to not take the weight down because it's very important.
"Tyson Fury does show up very big and heavy, he likes dirty boxing and is taller than me. So, I might at some point need to use that force, so we haven't worked to get the weight down.
"It was just about the right balance between strength and endurance.”
Standing at 6ft 9in – although Ngannou thinks he's lying about that – Fury is the biggest heavyweight in boxing and uses his sheer size to overwhelm opponents in the ring.
'The Gypsy King' weighed 19.2 stone for his trilogy clash with Derek Chisora in December but recently admitted to ballooning up to 25 stone this year.
“I was weighing about 350lbs to start, Fury said in an interview with Boxing Social.
"I needed time to get it off and time to get sharp again, get my timing back which is not easy after a year out of the ring, as we all know, especially not at 35 years old.
"I’ve given a good training camp and I've dedicated my life to it for the past 12 weeks. I've been living out at my other place, so I’ve not been around the kids and wife and all that. I’ve given myself a tough preparation."
Fury will stay in shape after facing Ngannou as he expects to fight WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in a historic undisputed bout this December.
Ngannou will enjoy some downtime before returning to MMA for the Professional Fighters League after inking a lucrative deal with the UFC's main rival earlier this year.
