"The big fight next year" - Bob Arum teases a potential fight between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou

Bob Arum recently hinted that a potential showdown between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou could be in the works for 2023.

Both 'The Gyspy King' and 'The Predator' have teased fights against each other over the past year. There were doubts as to whether the bout would come to fruition as Ngannou is still under contract with the UFC. However, it's now seemingly closer to reality than ever before as the UFC champ's contract expires at the end of 2022.

Arum, the head of Top Rank Boxing, seems to be a supporter of the idea. He recently stated that the bout will likely happen next year. In an interview with FightHype.com, he said:

"I think the big fight next year would be Tyson Fury vs. the guy who's the heavyweight champion of the UFC [Francis Ngannou]. Yeah, That would be a tremendous, tremendous fight."

Watch Bob Arum discuss a potential Fury vs. Ngannou bout below:

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Despite retirement talk, Tyson Fury still wants Francis Ngannou

Tyson Fury recently proclaimed that he will retire after his next fight with Dillian Whyte. However, he still wants to fight Francis Ngannou down the line.

'The Gypsy King' has teased retirement on various occasions and even did it following his win over Wladimir Klitschko. The WBC Heavyweight Champion has once again stated he will call it quits, this time after his upcoming mandatory title defense in April.

This doesn't mean he's going to be done fighting. He explained his situation on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani and stated that he'll be done fighting for world titles after his bout with Whyte. That being said, he'll still be open to crossover bouts and thus, will still fight Ngannou.

He said:

"I don’t count that as a real boxing fight. That’s not a boxing fight. That’s gonna be a special fight. That will be in a cage in four-ounce gloves, in Las Vegas, at the Raiders Stadium. I will have retired from competitive, championship boxing and I’ll be ready to do the crossover fights completely. He won’t be the UFC heavyweight champion anymore, I won’t be the WBC Heavyweight Champion anymore!"