Home Boxing News Former world champion expects Tyson Fury to rematch Francis Ngannou or retire

Former world champion expects Tyson Fury to rematch Francis Ngannou or retire

Francis Ngannou vs Tyson Fury. Photo credit: Sky Sports

George Groves doesn’t believe WBC heavyweight titleholder Tyson Fury 34-0-1 (24) will ever face WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14).

Retired former WBA super middleweight champion Groves expects the 35-year-old Brit to head directly into a rematch with former UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who decked Fury in the third round only to lose a close split decision in his boxing debut in Saudi Arabia on October 28.

The 10-round non-title bout was seen as a simple warm-up for Fury ahead of a mooted four-belt unification bout against Ukrainian southpaw Usyk, 36, in Saudi Arabia on December 23.

The tougher-than-expected nature of the Fury-Ngannou bout saw that proposed date scrapped immediately after the fight.

Negotiations are now underway to match Fury with the former undisputed cruiserweight champion in February, but Groves thinks those talks will fizzle out.

“I don’t think Fury fights again, but if he does fight again, he fights Ngannou. I don’t think he fights Usyk,” Groves said on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channel.

“I thought he was going to fight on December 23rd and then he didn’t do a press conference.

“First of all, people think I bash Fury a lot and I do tell it like I see it and think it. I am a big Usyk fan and this is speaking from what I’ve experienced in my career.

“I think Fury has more than enough now, more than enough because does he really need to roll the dice and maybe get a career-defining win against Usyk and a big payday, or does he get beat? How does he tell everyone he’s the baddest man on the planet?”

Groves added that Fury should be asking questions of himself right now and considering how much he has left to give to the sport.

“I’d be questioning a little bit, and only he knows, but is he thinking, ‘Do I really want this anymore? Am I really willing to go all the way?’,” Groves said.

“There are times in his career when he’s been written off and he’s come back to show people and that’s what his motivation is, so maybe that will be the case.

“But maybe he’s thinking, ‘I boxed Derek Chisora over a year ago’ and he didn’t train really hard for that because he was finished.

“Before then, the fight against Dillian Whyte. That was pretty comfortable. He hasn’t been pushed since fighting.”

Fury entered the Whyte fight off the back of his gruelling third bout against big punching former WBC champion Deontay Wilder 43-2-1 (42), a fight that saw both boxers on the canvas multiple times.

Groves says Fury’s sixth-round knockout of long-time contender Whyte in April last year flattered to deceive.

“Dillian Whyte had never boxed for a world title before,” he explained.

“When I watched Fury against Deontay Wilder II [a fight won by Fury by seventh-round knockout], I thought, ‘This guy is the best in the division. If he fights like this, I don’t see how anyone beats him.’”

That opinion has now obviously changed.