Francis Ngannou has told talkSPORT that a Tyson Fury rematch victory over Oleksandr Usyk should not be ruled out.
Fury was handed the first defeat of his professional career by Usyk in May and will now get a second crack at the Ukrainian on Saturday night.
Prior to this series with Usyk, Fury was handed a shock when he clashed with Ngannou.
In late 2023, the former UFC heavyweight champion floored boxing’s then-WBC king and battled with him through a tough ten rounds.
The scorecards were contentious at the end, with Fury awarded a narrow split decision victory.
Ngannou came away from that bout with something of a bitter taste in his mouth, but remained typically humble as ever.
It was clear he was happy to have made Fury eat some of his pre-fight trash talking words though, as he mocked the Gypsy King by leaning over him and doing a small dance after knocking him down.
Now though, a year on, Ngannou has offered Fury some surprising support ahead of his rematch with Usyk.
He is still clearly picking the Ukrainian regardless.
Ngannou told talkSPORT Boxing: “With what I saw last time I think it’s really hard to have a different result.
“Yeah, I mean, it might not be a knockout or something, but I think Usyk has a very slick [style].
“But don’t count Tyson out.”
Ngannou was then asked directly what he learned about Fury’s assets in their fight.
“I think he has good body work, good movement,” the heavyweight admitted.
“He definitely doesn’t look like he can move very well, but he’s very athletic and then very fluid with his punches, fast.”
Concluding his interview, Ngannou gave more kind words for Fury, encouraging him not to make the same mistakes that led him to defeat in the first fight.
“I mean he’s a much bigger guy than Usyk,” Ngannou added.
“I hope this time he doesn’t get surprised and start trying to press or not get pressed like the last time.”
Fury certainly does appear to be treating the rematch differently.
At the final press conference before their first fight, he refused to face off with Usyk.
This time around though, he engaged in record-breaking 11-minute staredown.
Eddie Hearn was there to witness it in person and told the talkSPORT Breakfast show on Friday morning that he liked what he saw.
“I was in awe. I was trying to analyse them and work out who is looking good and who is looking nervous but it’s so difficult to get a gauge for that at this level,” Hearn explained.
“Fury has been super focused all week and didn’t say much at the press conference but I guess I like what I see.
“Usyk is ice cold and talking very confidently and it will take something extraordinary to beat Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday.
“But Fury has shown he is capable of doing extraordinary things, which he will have to do again.”
talkSPORT will bring you live commentary of Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday, December 21 with our coverage kicking off from 7.30pm
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