Dewey Cooper, the man in Francis Ngannou’s corner, has rubbished any claims that Tyson Fury was not fully prepared to face his man last October.
The bout was Ngannou’s first pro boxing bout, and the former UFC Heavyweight Champion was largely written off by pundits and fans.
He flipped the script in an incredible way by dropping Fury in the third round and boxing well on his way to a split-decision loss – a victory in defeat given most predicted the Brit could end that contest as and when he pleased.
In the aftermath, many have said Fury clearly hadn’t taken his training camp seriously even despite the man himself saying he prepared harder and longer for Ngannou than most of the fights in his career.
Cooper told Fruity Slots the narrative was ‘nonsense.’
“Everyone now knows Francis’ level but he’s going to grow from that first fight with Tyson Fury.
This narrative that the media portrayed about Fury coming unprepared is nonsense, his dad said he trained, Joseph Parker said he trained hard. Are they all liars? I don’t think so. I don’t believe he took him lightly, he could not step up and dominate Francis, it was a competitive fight and I think Fury fought well, he just wasn’t prepared for how strong, athletic, mentally talented and durable Francis is, I think the whole world forgot that point.
Guys disrespect mixed martial artists all the time because they are not boxers. At the end of the day, a fighter is a fighter and a warrior is a warrior, and true warriors like Francis are going to give you a hard time in the street, cage or ring.”
Cooper said he expected a knockout finish when his man faces Anthony Joshua on March 8.
“We expect victory in this fight, it’s not an absurd or ridiculous thing, we expect the victory which will most likely come by knockout.”