Mike Tyson has not been as involved with Francis Ngannou’s second professional boxing fight.
Ngannou faces Anthony Joshua, Friday March 8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on DAZN pay-per-view.
Ngannou, the former MMA champion-turned boxer without a professional victory under his belt, will look to have an encore performance having taken Tyson Fury to the wire last October.
“For this one – no,” said Amer Abdullah, who represents Mike Tyson in the Middle East, asked of Tyson’s involvement with Ngannou for this camp.
“Not as much as he was for the first fight.”
Tyson was hands-on for Ngannou’s pro debut. Part of the reason was because Ngannou idolized Tyson and wanted to have him in camp. Ngannou was trained by his coach Dewey Cooper, along with Tyson, and the Fury bout shocked the world – and left a lot of people looking stupid. Ngannou, in his professional boxing debut, dropped Tyson Fury, which seemed unfathomable.
Ngannou also realized a dream to be like his childhood hero, Mike Tyson. He is training at Tyson’s gym in Riyadh and coach Cooper said of the Mike Tyson Boxing Gym in Saudi Arabia: “Remarkable is a good word, but the most prestigious gym in the world.”
Ngannou’s camp has taken place overseas and not in Las Vegas, Nevada, which seems to be the biggest hindrance to the involvement of Tyson in this camp, being physically there.
“[Mike Tyson hasn’t been able to be there] with them being overseas and whatnot,” Abdullah added.
“I am sure they have had talks and conversations and things like that.”
Friday’s bout, which is a scheduled 10-rounder, sees the 37-year-old Ngannou – who holds a record of 0-1 – go against 34-year-old Anthony Joshua, who is 27-3, with 24 KOs. The bout will take place at Kingdom Arena.
