"I was there" - Sparring partner rejects idea that Tyson Fury didn't prepare for Francis Ngannou

Sol Dacres doesn't buy into talk that Tyson Fury wasn't prepared for Francis Ngannou last October.

'The Gypsy King' is currently slated to return to the ring next month in Saudi Arabia. There, he will face fellow titleholder Oleksandr Usyk as they fight to crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

In the build to the fight, Fury has been vocal about his goal to knockout 'The Cat'. While he's coming off a lackluster performance against the former UFC champion in the Fall, many have written that off. That's largely thanks to the belief that Fury was out of shape and simply underestimated Ngannou.

John Fury himself recently speculated that Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk would look radically different than his son's recent fight. In a recent interview, Fury revealed that 'The Gypsy King' didn't really prepare to face Ngannou in October.

However, undefeated heavyweight Dacres wants to put that idea to bed. Speaking in a recent interview with SecondsOut, he stated (via Boxing Social):

“John wasn’t really in the camp. It’s all good saying it in hindsight. I was there for two weeks. We were sparring hard, doing 12, 15 round sessions. I’ve been in previous camps and he was training just as hard as previous camps so it’s hard to say. It’s really more on him than anything. The training camp was preparing for a 12-round fight."

Check out his comments below (5:00):

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Will Tyson Fury rematch Francis Ngannou in the future?

If both men win their next fight, there's a good chance fans will get Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou 2.

'The Gypsy King' and 'The Predator' are both currently scheduled for their returns to the boxing ring. On Feb. 17, Fury will face Oleksandr Usyk. Just a few weeks later, on March 8, Ngannou will face former champion, Anthony Joshua.

Both of those contests will go down in Saudi Arabia, which is a very important detail. Saudi advisor Turki Alalshikh has been instrumental in the country's move into boxing, and he has some massive plans for 2024.

One of those plans is to make somewhat of a mini-tournament at heavyweight. At a press conference earlier this month, Alalshikh revealed plans to have the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk face the winner of Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua.

Obviously, there's still a lot that needs to happen to make that a reality. However, 'The Gypsy King' might get another crack at the PFL heavyweight in 2024.