"They thought I was losing my senses" - Francis Ngannou reveals how his family almost sent him to the 'psychiatric ward'

Francis Ngannou isn't bothered by people doubting his chances against Tyson Fury in their upcoming boxing match. He will be entering the ring with a statement victory on his mind.

Ngannou is set to make his boxing debut against Tyson Fury on October 28 in Riyadh. The highly anticipated bout will be a 10-round affair and has been classified as a non-title fight. However, it will be contested under standard professional boxing rules and judged under the 10-point must system with three ringside judges.

It's no secret that Francis Ngannou has had a difficult journey to the top. The former UFC heavyweight champion has comprehensively documented his struggles with extreme poverty as a young boy in Cameroon and the hardships he faced before becoming a combat sports superstar.

During a recent face-off with Tyson Fury on Carl Frampton's special Face Off show, Francis Ngannou spoke about how he never lost sight of his goal of becoming a world-class boxer regardless of his misfortunes. Stating that even his family didn't believe in him, he said:

"I really believe that everything is possible... The moment I went to do boxing for the first time, I was 22 years old, and people were thinking I was crazy. If I wasn't big and scary, even my family would put me in a psychiatric ward because they thought I was losing my senses."

Catch Ngannou's comments below (5:40):

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Oleksandr Usyk predicts Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury

Oleksandr Usyk recently weighed in on the highly anticipated Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury matchup. The Ukrainian believes that the Cameroonian is the perfect opponent for 'The Gypsy King' and is backing the WBC heavyweight champion to win easily.

Usyk will be watching the Ngannou-Fury fight closely. 'The Cat' is slated to face the Englishman in a title unification bout later this year, a fight that will crown the first undisputed heavyweight titleholder since Lennox Lewis accomplished the feat more than 20 years ago.

In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Oleksandr Usyk broke down the unique crossover boxing match and said:

"This bout is bread and butter for Tyson Fury. This is my attitude with regard to boxing. When someone's saying that Ngannou can drop him, I probably would agree... Tell me, how can the guy with no experience in boxing beat a 2-meter giant who's been boxing for 20 years? Yes, Ngannou is a UFC champion, I'm not disputing it. But UFC isn't boxing."

Catch Usyk's comments below (8:50):