Francis Ngannou sheds light on fighting with his confidence going into Tyson Fury fight: "I'm like, 'It's my first boxing match'"

Francis Ngannou put on an exemplary performance in his debut boxing fight against Tyson Fury in October 2023. But, there were some mental hurdles to overcome for the lineal MMA heavyweight champion before this boxing bout.

During a recent interview on The Ring Podcast, Francis Ngannou described confidence challenges before fighting 'The Gypsy King'. He said:

"I have my ego as a man that says, 'Ok, I'm fighting another man, and I have the capability to win'. But at the same time I'm like, 'It's my first boxing match'. I'm there questioning myself if I can go through three or four rounds, if I can get there, I'd never been there in my life I'm getting to the end of my career."

"I'm fighting a guy who has experience in this entire career, getting towards the end of his own career. He'd done this lots of times, I'd never done this. One thing, 'Can I stand up on this knee, is it going to hold up?' I had a very hard knee surgery with a lot of complications. For over a year, I couldn't walk properly, struggling with rehab," he added.

Check out Francis Ngannou discussing his mentality leading into the Fury contest below (13:40):

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Francis Ngannou's hit list in the boxing world

Francis Ngannou still has a hunger for Queensberry Rules competition after going 0-2 so far against generational talents in Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua. Ngannou seems more eager to return to the boxing ring than the PFL smart cage for MMA competition.

The 38-year-old spoke to Sports Book Review and named four potential options for his return to the sweet science. Ngannou said:

"I want a boxing fight next. I’d prefer a boxing fight next, maybe Deontay Wilder," he added.

"There’s a lot of options. Rico [Verhoeven] is an option. Derek Chisora is an option. Wladimir Klitschko could be an option," he added.

Verhoeven is one of the most acclaimed kickboxers of this generation and there has been some light discussion about a Francis Ngannou fight being an intriguing, inter-combat sport spectacle. Meanwhile, Chisora is looking to have one more fight and retire with a high-profile 50th pro boxing bout which presumably Ngannou would fit the bill for a contest like that.

Klitschko is more of a wild card option as he has been retired for years. On the other hand, Wilder seems like the option that the former UFC heavyweight champion has been calling for the most.