Fury vs Ngannou can be a mixture of boxing, MMA and five-minute rounds, says heavyweight
- Joe Hewlett
- 30 May 2022
UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall has weighed in on his opinion on how to make the potential crossover bout between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou fairer for the latter.
Talks of the contest had been floating around before Fury's recent win over Dillian Whyte, yet the rumours seemed to become reality when Ngannou met 'The Gypsy King' in the ring during the aftermath of his sixth-round victory in April.
If Ngannou competes in the match, he will join the likes of Anderson Silva and Conor McGregor as mixed martial artists who have transitioned into boxing.
Despite eyeing the current UFC heavyweight champion up for a potential future bout, Aspinall - who is currently ranked #6 in the UFC heavyweight rankings - is fully supportive of the contest, and is even looking at ways to make it fairer for Ngannou.
"I would be interested to see if them two fought," Aspinall told Sky Sports. "I'd like to see the fight, that would be awesome.
"Little gloves for sure, five-minute rounds, that would make it a little bit even. I think they should do the first-round boxing only, second round like boxing and low kicks and third round boxing, low kicks and clinching, something like that would make it a bit more even.
"If it's going to be boxing with little gloves on, I think it makes it more even to a degree but still you're talking about one of the best boxers that has ever lived. The chances are still pretty small.
"Obviously Ngannou hits like an absolute truck, he still has a punchers chance, but if you put a couple kicks in there and a bit of clinching and give five-minute rounds it would even it out a bit"
Moving into the realm of grappling and clinching wouldn't be new to Fury, however as the Brit has already experienced combat outside the world of boxing.
In 2019, the WBC champion made the move over to WWE where took part in a match with Braun Strowman.
As well as that, Fury has also trained in aspects of MMA with UFC middleweight Darren Till and has also grappled with Aspinall himself as the Brit recalled.
"I've grappled with him before, he's interested in it. I know he's done bits of grappling, bits of kicks before, he was down in our gym training."
"He's definitely got an interest in it. I'd love to see it though."
The UFC heavyweight is looking to continue his eight-fight knockout streak - seven of which coming within the first round - when he faces fellow big puncher and the ranked #4 heavyweight Curtis Blaydes on July 23.
A win for Aspinall back in front of his home fans at UFC London could propel him to a first UFC title shot and a chance to become the first Brit to hold the prestigious UFC heavyweight belt.
