Mike Tyson has reacted to Francis Ngannou being placed in the WBC heavyweight rankings after helping him train to fight Tyson Fury.
This week it emerged that the sanctioning body had placed Ngannou in its top 10. The decision outraged many given that the Cameroonian-Frenchman has had just one professional boxing match, and he lost it.
The MMA star did put on an impressive showing against the WBC’s champion Fury when the pair met in Saudi Arabia in October, and even scored a knockdown in the third round before being on the wrong end of a split decision.
Since the fight, Ngannou has stated his desire for a rematch with the Brit, but Fury has now officially announced his much anticipated undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk will take place on February 17th next year.
Former unified champion Mike Tyson was part of Ngannou’s training team in lead-up to the fight. At the WBC convention, he was asked for his views of the ranking given to Ngannou and said that it was ‘too low.’
“He did a great job [against Fury]. Number 10 is too low!”
Tyson then explained why he thought Ngannou’s ranking should be higher.
“He did a great job with one of the greatest fighters of all time. His first time boxing, fighting for the heavyweight championship, fighting against the best heavyweight of his era. He deserves a lot of credentials after that.”
Quite what Ngannou will do next is unknown given that Fury is not available for a rematch, but he has said he will honour a deal he signed to fight MMA in the Professional Fighters League.