‘Fury vs Ngannou is a load of rubbish, crossover fights don’t work’: Carl Froch on latest boxing vs MMA matchup

Carl Froch says he’s got no interest in the Oct. 28 exhibition with Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, and went further to say that “crossover fights” between boxers and MMA stars “don’t work.”

The former super middleweight titleholder, who once beat George Groves in front of 80,000 screaming fans at Wembley Stadium, believes Fury is only doing the bout to promote his upcoming Netflix series.

“Fury and Ngannou is a load of rubbish,” Froch told Genting Casino. “The only reason that fight is happening is because he’s got a Netflix series coming out and a crossover fight fits well into a Netflix show. I think Fury is more interested in the glitz and glamour around his own Netflix show than fighting anyone else, but Tyson Fury can do whatever he wants.

“He had that trilogy with Deontay Wilder, he beat Wladimir Klitschko, he’s the main man in the heavyweight division. If Tyson Fury says it’s Tuesday, it’s Tuesday, no one is going to argue with him. But Fury-Ngannou is a load of rubbish, not interested at all, not in the slightest, because it’s not a boxing match.

“I’m interested in MMA and the UFC, but crossover fights don’t work. Mayweather proved that when he fought McGregor, it was a mismatch, and it will always be a mismatch when a boxer fights a mixed martial artist in the boxing ring and vice versa if a boxer jumps into the cage.”

Personally, I think it may be less about a Netflix series than about the giant pile of money, but if this was a covert way for Froch to plug Fury’s Netflix series, then you must respect it.

Froch also said that Fury should not be stripped of the WBC title — which he won’t be, of course — because the sanctioning body has not ordered a mandatory title fight for him. They have already allowed him “special permission” for the Ngannou exhibition.

“If the WBC calls a mandatory and he’s not fulfilling his mandatory obligations, then they should strip him. But if he’s not been ordered to fight, he’s within his right to keep hold of that belt and go and do this celebrity clown show that he’s involved in.

“The WBC should not strip him. If I had the belt and I was going to earn a fortune to fight for an easy win, then I’d ask ‘why are you taking the belt off me?’ Tyson Fury is the man in the division who can demand all the money and TV, and he’s fought and beat everyone.

“We do need to see him fight Usyk though, but not so much Anthony Joshua, at least until we see AJ back to his previous best. If AJ does a job on Whyte, blasts him out and looks really good doing it, then we’re going to want to see AJ-Fury, but at the moment, the only fight out there for Fury is Usyk and Usyk’s fighting Dubois.”