In the latest boxing news, Tyson Fury has called on his critics to not watch his upcoming fight with Francis Ngannou. 

The ‘Gypsy King’ will face Ngannou, who makes his boxing debut, on October 28th, 2023. The WBC heavyweight champion will not be putting his belt on the line, but the bout will be on their official record.

And yet, the decision to not defend his belt against a legitimate boxer has been scrutinized. Although that has since then been alleviated by Fury agreeing to a fight with Oleksandr Usyk, the Gypsy King has hit out at those who were not keen on seeing the fight happening. 

Fury On His Critics

"If they don’t like the idea, I don’t give a f–k. Then don’t watch it. I’m not trying to sell anybody anything. It’ll be the two baddest mother f–kers on the planet meeting in the center of a ring and someone is going to get knocked spark out. To me, that’s entertainment," Fury said

Ultimately, Fury will receive the highest payday of his career. Reports suggest that he is on course to earn $50 million, which is a huge amount, given that it won’t be against a professional boxer. And since Ngannou is taking away the biggest payday too, both fighters won’t mind the background noise that is coming. 

Tommy Smalls Passes Away

Meanwhile, the world of boxing has reacted to the news of trainer Tommy Smalls’ death. Small had worked with some of the biggest stars around the sport of boxing.

The trainer was known for being a part of Floyd Mayweather’s camp, as well as having worked with Devin Haney when he was just 16.

In response, Mayweather became a five-division champion with a 50-0 record to become one of the best. That included being one the best defensive fighters of all time, which had shown that the boxer was capable of taking on Small’s advice. 

Meanwhile, Haney ended up being the youngest undisputed champion of the four-belt era after dominating the 135-pound division. And in doing so, Haney fought away from home by traveling to Australia to defeat George Kambosos Jr.

But as he did so, the American ran things back in Australia to beat Kambosos once again in a successful defense. And since Haney is also undefeated like Mayweather, big things are expected of him.

And given the massive success that those fighters achieved, both were on hand to send some warm words, as well as others from the boxing community. 

Reaction

"Rest in Peace my brother I will always love you," Mayweather

"I will forever love & miss you.. I appreciate everything you ever taught me.. May Allah forgive you for your sins & accept you in paradise Ameen I love you T smalls," Haney

"RIP Tommy Smalls  #MyGuy #ThisOneHURT Love You Tom," Zab Judah

"Wow damn my man Tommy, had some good times. Rest easy champ," Andre Berto

"Had some good times with T Smalls. Funny dude too! Rest up," Andre Dirrell