‘Been waiting four years’ - Francis Ngannou ready to end long wait for Tyson Fury in 'Battle of the Baddest'

Francis Ngannou admits he has waited four years to fight Tyson Fury ahead of their ‘Battle of the Baddest’ clash live on TNT Sports Box Office.

The former UFC heavyweight champion takes on the current WBC heavyweight champion in Riyadh on Saturday, and expressed his gratitude for being given a chance to compete on such a huge platform.

“I'm feeling great, I'm feeling fantastic,” Ngannou told TNT Sports.

“I was just thinking that I'm four days away from a fight that I've been waiting for four years.

“I'm very excited about that because it's a big stage for me and a big opportunity. I didn't have to start from all the way down and do all these things to get here.

“I had to sneak my way up here to take the best and figure it out.”

Ngannou is confident of ending Fury's unbeaten record, and despite holding the reputation of having the world's hardest punch, he claims that a win by decision is a possibility.

“I really believe that everything is possible. And let me tell you something, from where I came from, everything that I have done, nobody believed in me,” he said on 'The Face-Off' show with Carl Frampton.

“The moment I went to do boxing for the first time I was 22 years old and people were thinking I was crazy. Even my mum told me, ‘hey son, I love you and I will always support you, but I hope that you come to your senses at some point in time’. But I proved them wrong.”

“It makes me feel confident because everything that I have achieved, that’s what they said about me."

Meanwhile, there is undoubtedly more at stake for Fury, who has a reputation to uphold ahead of an undisputed world heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Uysk.

“The man’s had 20 fights, he’s going from homeless to being world champion in six years, so I don’t underestimate anyone like that,” Fury explained.

“I take him 100% seriously, I’m training as hard for him as I did for [Deontay] Wilder, [Wladimir] Klitschko, anyone. I’ve got to do my job, there’s no foregone conclusions.

“I don’t count my chickens before they hatch. Every man has to be respected and gets credit for stepping in that ring.

"If it’s anything less than an absolute war, it’ll be an easy night, but I’m preparing for an absolute battle royale.”

Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou can be watched in the UK & Ireland through BT, Virgin Media TV and Sky or online via the web or the TNT Sports Box Office App on October 28. You do not need to be a TNT Sports subscriber to buy this event.

Virgin Media TV customers in the UK: customers with a TiVo and/or V6 set-top-box should visit the On-Demand section and choose Live Events; customers with a Virgin TV360 and/or Stream set-top-box should go to the Pay Per View Live Events rail

Viewers wanting to watch the fight online should visit www.tntsports.co.uk/boxoffice and follow instructions to subscribe and watch on the web or on the TNT Sports Box Office App, customers can choose to watch on the big screen using Google Chromecast and Apple Airplay. EE, Three, Vodafone and O2 customers watching online or via the TNT Sports Box Office App can choose to add the payment to their mobile bill.

Sky customers can purchase TNT Sports Box Office on channel 490 via their remote control or via www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt

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