Tyson Fury has confirmed that his upcoming fight with Dillian Whyte will be his last unless he's able to agree a bout with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The two have gone back and forth over the past few months with both making their fighting intentions clear.
However, no fight will happen in 2022 - with Ngannou currently contracted with the UFC although his deal officially expired. After defeating heavyweight sensation Ciryl Gane in January, Ngannou triggered a champions clause in his current deal, meaning he remains on the roster and under contract until he relinquishes the belt.
Ngannou is believed to be happy to remain in the UFC for one more year before hoping to agree a new deal which would allow him to fight Fury, either in the boxing ring or in a UFC octagon. Fury has spoken on multiple occasions about wanting to test himself against the Cameroonian and even publicly challenged him to a boxing-MMA crossover fight.
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Whilst Fury has now admitted that his fight with Whyte will be his last in the boxing rang he has eyes on a clash with Ngannou - with special stipulations.
The Gypsy King told MMA reporter Ariel Helwani: "I don't class that as a real boxing fight. That's going to be a special fight. That will be in a cage with 4oz gloves in Las Vegas at the Raiders Stadium. It's very possible [that we see this fight in 2022]. I will have retired from competitive championship boxing and I will be ready to do the crossover fights.
"He won't be the UFC champion anymore, I won't be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore, but I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can't take that from me. He's a big guy; a big dangerous guy. People say it's not a fair fight in 10oz gloves and that's correct, because like [former UFC champion] Daniel Cormier said, Ngannou is a much cruder version of Deontay Wilder and we all know what happened there.
"So if we do it in 4oz gloves then he has more chance of knocking me out but I have a better chance of knocking him out also so it makes for an exciting fight. I will come in at my heaviest for that fight, I will be 300lb so that I can nail him to the canvas."
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