Twitter Four Ounce Heavyweight Wars! Fury calls Out UFC Champ Ngannou During WBC Purse Crisis, Wallin Offers In
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Las Vegas, NV (January 8th, 2022)– Just when you think you have seen it all, the heavyweight boxing versus UFC flame has been rekindled between lineal and World Boxing Council World Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and UFC World Heavyweight MMA champion Francis Ngannou. Fury now says he will fight a boxing bout with Ngannou, and would be willing to use the UFC’s four ounce gloves rather than the boxing regulation 10 ounce gloves.
As to who would sanction such a Pay-Per-View madness, Fury lit the fire on social media source Twitter, stating “Who would like to see me fight this beat (Ngannou) boxing rules (with UFC) gloves.” Ngannou responded on Twitter he would immediately be willing to face Fury with four ounce gloves, but with MMA rules in the match. Ngannou fights out of Las Vegas, but remains under contract with the UFC as long as he keeps winning.
Ngannou, 16-3 with 12 knockouts, Paris, France, is scheduled to defend his UFC World Heavyweight title against undefeated challenger and French compatriot Cirul “Bon Gamin” Gane, 10-0 with four knockouts, Paris, France, on January 22, 2021, in the major sporting event before Super Bowl LV at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, California on February 13, 2022.
Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte, 28-2 with 19 knockouts, London UK, remains unwilling to accept an 80/20 percent purse division for Tyson Fury, 31-0-1 with 22 knockouts, Manchester UK and Las Vegas, to fight him. Dmitriy Salita Swedish southpaw heavyweight Otto Wallin, 22-1 with 14 knockouts, loser of a bloody decision to Fury previously, has expressed interest in fighting a rematch with Fury, title or nontitle. The typical split for a heavyweight challenger is 70/30 inf avor of the champion, but Bob Arum’s Top Rank requested an 80/20 split for Fury versus Whyte at the November 2021 WBC Convention in Mexico City, Mexico. Whyte, the WBC interim champion, has sued the WBC for his mandatory title shot, and refuses to fight for less than 10 million dollar guarantee as opposed to the five million dollar offer on the table. Whyte was supposed to fight Wallin on October 30, 2021 in London, but Whyte withdrew from the DAZN event with a shoulder injury, and moved forward instead, to try to fight Fury instead of allowing Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing to reschedule Wallin versus Whyte. Apparently, Whyte’s shoulder feels much better all of a sudden.
Fury has to fight again to remain active. Otto Wallin and Francs Ngannou appear better bout options to stage, either or both title or nontitle, boxing or MMA, in Las Vegas. With British boxing shut down this month and in the foreseeable future perhaps, Las Vegas is a better option. The key understanding here is greed. Fury’s corner and Top Rank wants the monster cut of cash. Whyte sees green only.
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