"This has never been done" - Francis Ngannou's coach claims his performance against Tyson Fury eclipses legendary feats of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou vacated his title and left the promotion earlier in the year to pursue new challenges such as a crossover boxing bout against the lineal heavyweight champ Tyson Fury.
Former kickboxer Dewey Cooper has worked with Francis Ngannou as a trainer and compared his power with Deontay Wilder, amidst rumors of a matchup. In an interview on Morning Kombat, he said:
“I think Francis has a little more control on his power so it’s hard to say. In a perfect world, it’s been recorded. Deontay Wilder should go hit the power cube so we can see. But right now, since we have to go by the records Francis is the harder puncher. I would say he’s the harder puncher because he’s heavier and if he throws it full power and lands it clearly, it’s definitely as devastating as Deontay Wilder’s, if not more. In this fight with Tyson Fury, we wanted him to be more precision than power. So we were actually telling him in the corner, take a bit off because it’s his first 10-round fight."
Cooper also claimed that Francis Ngannou's performance against Fury, having taking him the distance in his professional debut, is unprecedented and was not even done by the greats such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
"I don’t know about you guys or people understand how insane it is. I got 25 pro-boxing fights. My first six boxing fights were four-rounders. I used to be a good fighter... Me at my best I couldn’t imagine my first boxing fight, fighting the best guy in my division in a 10-round fight. I don’t think anyone can. Roy Jones, Holyfield, even Mike Tyson himself, Ali after winning the Olympic gold medal didn’t event do something like this. Guys, this has never been done. Conor did it but he got stopped.”
Check out his comments below [15:10]:
Ariel Helwani blasts Chael Sonnen for his criticism of Francis Ngannou
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen criticized Francis Ngannou for his decision to leave the UFC and claimed that he lost out on more money.
Sonnen appeared on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour and the two argued it over. Helwani called out Sonnen's bias to pander towards the promotion.
"Don't be a fu**ing coward and dance around this sh*t, say it to my face like a man...Grow a fu**ing pair and I'll say it to you, you have a bias and a vendetta against Francis, you work for ESPN...you're a company man and you don't wanna upset big bad Dana."
Check out his comments below: