Exclusive: Francis Ngannou's ex-coach Fernand Lopez weighs in on Tyson Fury fight months after ugly public spat
Francis Ngannou's former coach Fernand Lopez recently weighed in on the Cameroonian's upcoming boxing clash against Tyson Fury. After yearlong negotiations which didn't bear fruits, followed by a UFC exit and several more months of negotiations Ngannou has finally earned himself a booking against the heavyweight boxing world champion.
The pair are set to clash on October 28 in Riyadh in a highly anticipated clash that is expected to significantly impact the world of combat sports. Ngannou's former coach at the MMA Factory in Paris, Lopez, has now honestly opened up on the implications of this booking.
While they parted ways sourly in 2018, Lopez acknowledged Ngannou's booking with Fury as a victory in itself for 'The Predator'. The MMA Factory chief told Andrew Whitelaw in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA:
"I think you have to analyze this in two ways. First important way is, what is the meaning of that. What is the meaning of Francis Ngannou fighting Tyson Fury? Priceless. That is something when you achieve that, man you're writing your story. I mean you're talking about someone that if you take out the journey on MMA, if he shows up in any gym and say I want to fight Fury, people would be laughing. Like, 'who are you?'... But this guy made himself get respected till he can fight the best heavyweight ever that we had on the planet in boxing. So period, he already won the fight."
Catch Fernand Lopez's comments below:
The feud between Francis Ngannou and Fernand Lopez
Francis Ngannou trained under the tutelage of Fernand Lopez from 2013 to 2018 before joining Xtreme Couture with Eric Nicksick as head coach. Both Ngannou and Lopez went public with their feud, coming up with different versions of why things turned sour.
According to 'The Predator', Lopez's hunger for the 'spotlight' was the primary bone of contention between them. Ngannou accused Lopez of comparing their Instagram followings, expecting to be as popular as fighters.
Meanwhile, Fernand Lopez accused Ngannou of refusing to pay the gym membership fee citing the attention that he was bringing. Lopez claimed that the former UFC champ had stayed under the gym's roof for free for four years and only agreed to pay 10% of his salary thereon.