25 October 2023 , 19:35
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Tyson Fury has claimed there is no rematch clause for his fight on Saturday night with Francis Ngannou - which could put his undisputed plans in jeopardy.
The WBC heavyweight champion won't lose his belt if he's beaten by Ngannou in Riyadh this weekend due to the MMA champion being ineligible for a ranking, but he would suffer his first defeat as a professional. And it would likely put a serious dampener on his already-announced showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
Official TNT Sport broadcasts have been referencing a December 23 date for the Usyk bout, but Fury will need to get through Ngannou first in order for that to happen. However, the boxer claims that he won't be obligated to a rematch with his cage fighting counterpart if he does lose.
"As we stand today, there's no rematch clause either way," Fury told The MMA Hour this evening. "If he knocks me out cold on Saturday night I'll have to be begging him like this 'please give me a rematch'. I hate rematches, rematch clauses have tied my career up for so long and cost me a lot of millions of dollars in court cases.
"I always say we don't need a rematch, if the first fight is good then boom, participants would surely want a rematch. If it's a s*** fight then it's not deserving of a rematch. So I hate when champions do the clause, I know why it is because it's a double payday but they go into the fight and it's already announced 'there's a rematch clause'.
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"It takes all the emphasis off the first fight, nobody cares about the first fight, it don't mean s*** because if there's a rematch clause anyway then let's see who wins the second one because that's the one that really counts. I believe in these massive fights it was one of the stumbling blocks for me and Usyk the last time.
However, when Ngannou and his manager Marquel Martin were interviewed on the same show after the fight was announced, both men insisted that should he pull off the upset win, there would be a second fight. The hard-hitting heavyweight duo are both earning massive eight-figure purses, but a win for Ngnanou would be disastrous for promotional plans going forward.
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"There is a potential rematch clause," Ngannou confirmed, before noting that it would have to wait until after his PFL debut, which is signed for early next year. "I don't know exactly how to explain that language but yes, there is a rematch inside."
Asked if he would be rematching Fury immediately in the case of a win, Ngannou responded: "For that one, definitely, but [if Fury wins] that's where we don't know. We will see how it goes, but that's why I have to win this fight. I have to put everything to get this rematch as well.
"The second fight would be after the PFL debut because the PFL debut is somewhere in the beginning of next year, maybe February or March next year. I was just talking to Peter Murray about it and that's the timeline. [There is no opponent] yet, but they are working on something. I just know that they are working on it, I don't have so many details about it."