Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou make their grand arrivals
Tyson Fury: "I might give him a slick, master boxing performance, not let the ugly man touch me once"
Francis Ngannou: "I'm not going in there to play Fury's game. I'm going there to play my own game!"
The fighters on the Battle of the Baddest card walked the purple carpet on Tuesday at the start of Fight Week at Boulevard City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 'Battle of the Baddest' is broadcast live on TNT Sports Box Office in the UK & Ireland and via Top Rank on ESPN PPV on Saturday 28 October.
Francis Ngannou
"I can't believe it. Walking from there, I looked at it like, 'The boy made it.'
"I didn't try to to replicate what Fury would do. I'm not going in there to play Fury's game. I'm going there to play my own game. So, my training was based on me, how I can fight, and that's what me and my coaches worked on. It went well. Tough, but it went well.
"I'm aware of my lack of experience in boxing, but I am a man of challenges, and I've overcome a lot of challenges.
"Before anything can happen on Saturday night, there are two. We are already the two baddest men on the planet. We're just aiming for the first spot.
"I've been waiting on Tyson Fury for four years. At the time, I didn't know about Oleksandr Usyk. When the opportunity came, I wanted Tyson Fury. He's the guy."
Tyson Fury
"I can stand and trade with anybody. I stood and traded with Wilder. I traded with Wladimir [Klitschko], and I'll stand and trade with this little bi*ch.
"I might give him a slick, master boxing performance, not let the ugly man touch me once. That would be unbelievable, wouldn't it? I might start dancing, tripling the jab like Apollo Creed, move around, just stick and move.
"When [Ngannou] feels this right hand, he won't be winning very much.
"Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and think I'm an absolute genius When everyone thought it was all over for the GK, he comes and totally redeems himself and pulls this out of the hat. Only six months ago, I didn't know if I ever was going to box again. Now, here we go.
"I'm not thinking about [the Oleksandr Usyk fight]. I got this big sausage to deal with, and once I grilled him up nice and good, then we'll move on to the next one."
Fury-Ngannou fight week schedule
All times are local (BST-2)
Media Workout
Wednesday 25 October
Workouts start at 8pm
Participants: Jack McGann, Alcibiade Duran Galvan, Carlos Takam, Martin Bakole, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Junior Anthony Wright, Joseph Parker, Simon Kean, Moses Itauma, David Adeleye, Fabio Wardley, Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury.
Press Conference
Thursday 26 October
Press Conferences start at 8pm
Participants: Jack McGann, Alcibiade Duran Galvan, Carlos Takam, Martin Bakole, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Junior Anthony Wright, Joseph Parker, Simon Kean, Moses Itauma, David Adeleye, Fabio Wardley, Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury, Frank Warren and Bob Arum.
Official Weigh-In
Friday 27 October
Fighters on the scales from 6pm
Participants: All the fighters on the card will weigh-in ahead of Saturday’s fight night
Fury vs Ngannou fight predictions
Who is Francis Ngannou?
Things you didn’t know about Tyson Fury
How to watch Fury vs Ngannou
Article sponsored by HÖRFA