TYSON FURY will make an exception to fight UFC champion Francis Ngannou after vowing to retire with a win over Dillian Whyte.
The WBC heavyweight king returns to the UK in a homecoming grudge match against Whyte on April 23 at Wembley.
Tyson Fury claims he will retire after fighting Dillian Whyte
Fury had promised to target the undisputed crown this year before agreeing a mega-money deal to face UFC champion Ngannou in 2023.
But the eccentric Gypsy King has now switched up his plans again, so he claims, by saying he will instead retire after his fight with Whyte.
Fury did however confirm it will not disrupt his goal of fighting Ngannou next year.
And he called for it to be an unprecedented boxing match inside a cage with 4oz gloves on.
Fury said on the MMA Hour: “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 4oz 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.”
Ngannou, 35, has no fights left on his current UFC deal but as champion he is still contracted with them for another year.
But should he fail to agree an extension it would allow him to become a free agent and pursue his boxing ambitions.
Fury, 33, last fought in October with an epic 11th round stoppage over Deontay Wilder, 36, which rounded out their trilogy in style.
Challenging Ngannou after his three bouts with Wilder would see the Brit facing arguably the two biggest punchers in the world.
But he is keen to have the spectacle fight competed in the smaller 4oz MMA gloves, evening up the playing field.
Fury said: “We’ve got Francis Ngannou, he’s a big guy, a big dangerous guy.
“I’d love to see, people going on, ‘Oh, it’s not a fair fight in 10-ounce gloves,’ and that’s correct.
“It wouldn’t be a fair fight in 10-ounce gloves because like [Daniel] Cormier said recently, he said Francis Ngannou is a much cruder version of Deontay Wilder, and we all know what happened there.
“So I think if we’re doing four-ounce gloves, he’d have a bit more chance of knocking me out, but then again, I’d have a bit more chance of knocking him out also.
“So it makes for an exciting fight. And I will try to come in at my heaviest for that fight.
“I’ll try to come in over 300 pounds. Just to nail him to the canvas with one solid punch.”
UFC champion Francis Ngannou is linked with fighting Tyson Fury
