Notebook: Fury thinking about Ngannou, Jon Jones, not Usyk or AJ

Trainer Stafford passes away at 67; Foster first defense set; purse bid updates; next for Matias; Quick hits; Show and tell

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Promoters and boxers have been known to lay it on thick when it comes to hyping their fights. That’s part of their job, of course.

So when lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who was stripped of that title when he left the MMA promotion at the expiration of his contract, came face to face for their kickoff news conference there certainly was hype in the air as they talked up their showdown on Thursday in London.

What was noticeable was that none of them, neither the two fighters nor Fury co-promoters Bob Arum and Frank Warren, spoke much about expectations for a tremendously competitive battle.

Common sense dictates that with Ngannou crossing over to boxing for the first time that a competitive bout is unlikely. Just look at most of the other boxing matches between boxer and MMA fighters. Usually, the boxer wins and does so handily.

But what the fighters and promoters were selling was the idea that Fury-Ngannou will be a massive event when they square off in a 10-rounder (Fury’s WBC title will not be on the line) on Oct. 28 (ESPN+ PPV) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as the cornerstone event of the annual Riyadh Season festival.

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