WBC & lineal heavyweight boxing world champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and lineal MMA heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou will lock horns this Saturday, Oct. 28, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Promoted by Queensberry, Top Rank and GIMIK Fight Promotions, The pay-per-view undercard, an all-heavyweight affair, features a 12-round showdown between undefeated British standouts Fabio Wardley (16-0, 15 KOs) and David Adeleye (12-0, 11 KOs), along with a 10-round battle between former heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker (32-3, 22 KOs) and Canadian knockout artist Simon Kean (23-1, 22 KOs).
Montreal-based wrecking ball Arslanbek Makhmudov (17-0, 16 KOs) will take on the upset-minded Junior Anthony Wright (20-4-1, 17 KOs) in a 10-round clash, and Moses Itauma (5-0, 3 KOs) will open the pay-per-view broadcast in a six-rounder against Istvan Bernath (10-1, 8 KOs).
At Thursday’s press conference, an eventful show that included an animated John Fury (Tyson’s father), this is what the fighters had to say:
David Adeleye:
“Saturday night is two days away. The talking is done now. We’ll see how tough he is.”
“He’s not the same as me. I see his mannerisms and how he carries himself. We just ain’t the same. But I don’t really take it all in. What matters is what happens on fight night. What he does other than that doesn’t really bother me.”
“What’s going to happen when I take him into deep waters? I know he’s never faced a banger like me. I don’t think, I know.”
“It’s nothing towards him personally. I just hate how he talks, and he talks like he’s a seasoned pro. The man has had 16 fights, I don’t really understand.”
“He’s got no boxing ability. He can only fight one way, and that’s walking forward. He’s got no boxing I.Q. I can back up and I know Wardley will follow me. He’s not intelligent enough to see that I’m setting traps. And on Saturday night, you will see that.”
Fabio Wardley
“It’s a very special stage for a very special night. There is a lot to look forward to on this card, but I think the fight with me and David has captured a lot of eyes. A lot of people are interested. And I’m looking forward to having a big night.”
“He hasn’t faced anyone of any worth or of any level, so there’s nothing there for me to look at and say ‘Okay, maybe he has shown this or that.’ There’s nothing I’ve seen that has made me consider that, so it’s all smoke and mirrors for me.”
“I’d say I’ll be the first man to beat him, but I think there was someone else on his record who pretty much beat him, but he did well to get home a home decision, so maybe I’ll be the first on record. But I think it’s been seen by quite a wide audience in the boxing community that there are flaws there that have been exploited. And when it gets hot, like he says, he thinks he knows how to swim, but when he was drowning before, he didn’t know what to do.”
Joseph Parker:
“Even if I were fighting Tyson Fury, I don’t think there’s any more that we could have done in camp. We’ve trained very hard for Simon Kean. And we respect him as a fighter. We know that he’s got a lot of knockouts, so we’ve done everything in our power to be as prepared as we can be for this challenge.”
“I’m going to follow the plan that Andy Lee says and punch his face.”
Simon Kean
“This is a big challenge for me. This week, Joseph said he wants to knock me out. Of course he wants to knock me out, and I want to knock him out, too. That’s boxing.
“I know I have a big challenge and that I will need a great performance to get the win, but I had a really great training camp and I’m ready to shock the world.”
Arslanbek Makhmudov
“He has good defense. He’s fast. He’s not as tall as my other opponents, so that’s going to be a good change for me.
“I can’t ever say that I will score the knockout, but I will just do my best and everything will come from that. I’m going to give a good performance.”
Junior Anthony Wright
“I’m in the gym all the time. I work out like I’ve got nothing else to do. I took advantage of the situation, and here I am. It’s definitely going to be a good fight because I am a puncher as well. It’s going to be one of the best fights.”
Moses Itauma
“I’m not going to go in there and look for the KO. But obviously, I’m going to go in there and try my best. And hopefully the KO comes. At the end of the day, nobody can predict the future, but if I go in there and do 100 percent, then I’ll come out victorious.”
Saturday, October 28
Top Rank on ESPN+ PPV (2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT)
Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou, 10 rounds, heavyweight
Fabio Wardley vs. David Adeleye, 12 rounds, heavyweight
Joseph Parker vs. Simon Kean, 10 rounds, heavyweight
Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Junior Anthony Wright, 10 rounds, heavyweight
Moses Itauma vs. Istvan Bernath, 6 rounds, heavyweight
Credit: Top Rank
You must be logged in to post a comment.