Khabib Nurmagomedov tells Tyson Fury who his toughest opponent will be
- Joe Hewlett
- 16 February 2022
Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed the opponent Tyson Fury will struggle with the most in the heavyweight division.
The Gypsy King is expected to face Dillian Whyte on April 23 in a mandatory defence of his WBC title.
Fury remains undefeated following a trilogy of bouts with Deontay Wilder and has called out Oleksandr Usyk for an undisputed battle later this year.
The heavyweight champion has also proposed a clash between himself and UFC ruler Francis Ngannou although any chance of a fight taking place is unlikely to happen until 2023.
And UFC legend Nurmagomedov - who retired undefeated and beat Conor McGregor along the way - believes Fury is the best in his division but is backing one fighter to give him a 'tough challenge'.
He told Sky Sports: "He [Fury] is the best right now. I think Fury is on a different level, in boxing. If they fight in the MMA of course, Ngannou has a chance now - we can see from his last fight.
"If they fight in the UFC yeah, Fury doesn't have too many chances.
"But in boxing, I don't see anyone even touching his face - maybe Oleksandr Usyk.
"Usyk is going to be a tough challenge for Fury.
"But Ngannou? I think he has to stay with the UFC. But if he goes to boxing and he's making $50 or $60 million - he has to. Why not? I know Ngannou comes from a very, very poor life in Africa. He was with no money, no home, nothing. So if someone pays you more money then go and take.
"If you want to make history, become the greatest heavyweight of all time then you have to stay in UFC."
Usyk is the third fighter after Evander Holyfield and David Haye to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
He will rematch Anthony Joshua in May after the latter activated a rematch clause from his points defeat in September 2021.
