Mike Tyson gives a short response to Francis Ngannou's wish to train with him for Tyson Fury fight

Francis Ngannou [L] and Mike Tyson [R] [Images via @francisngannou and @miketyson Instagram]

Mike Tyson is not opposed to lending his expertise and training Francis Ngannou for his boxing debut. Later this year, the former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will make his much-anticipated boxing debut against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. While Ngannou has much catching up to do, given Fury's boxing credentials, the right advice can help him perform well.

While speaking to TMZ Sports about the upcoming fight, Francis Ngannou stated that getting advice or training from Mike Tyson for his upcoming fight would be good for him. He also named Lennox Lewis as another person who could help him tremendously in preparation.

During a recent interview with ES News, Mike Tyson was asked to share his thoughts on the prospects of training with Francis Ngannou. 'Iron Mike' gave a short but affirmative answer to the question and showed his willingness to train 'Predator' for the bout:

“I’d like to do that. That’d be cool. I’d like that, yeah, I’d like that,” Mike Tyson stated.

You can watch Mike Tyson make the statement from the 45-second mark of the video below:

Mike Tyson is not counting out Francis Ngannou against Tyson Fury

Francis Ngannou will go up against Tyson Fury in a professional boxing match scheduled for October 28, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is not clear if Fury's WBC heavyweight title is on the line in this match.

Although Francis Ngannou is a credentialled mixed martial artist, boxing is an unchartered territory for him. A Tyson Fury win is being perceived as the foregone conclusion for this fight, and some experts have heavily criticized Fury's decision to be a part of it.

However, 'Iron Mike' is not ruling out Francis Ngannou's chances against Fury. Continuing further in the same interview, the boxing legend argued that Ngannou's devastating striking power can make a lot of difference in the fight:

“I think anything’s possible. He has a hard punch, you know…” Tyson said.

Since parting ways with his former team, The MMA Factory back in 2018, Francis Ngannou has trained under head coach Eric Nicksick and the team at Xtreme Couture MMA. Whether he will make changes to the coaching staff or not is a mystery at the moment. However, he won the UFC gold with the same team and might also stick with them in his boxing venture.