Tyson Fury has finally revealed who the harder puncher is between former opponents Deontay Wilder and Francis Ngannou.
Wilder, considered one of the hardest punchers of all-time, floored Fury four times in three classic bouts, whilst Ngannou, who broke the record for the hardest punch ever recorded, dropped ‘The Gypsy King’ before losing on a contentious split decision in his first professional boxing bout.
The 35-year-old, who remarkably climbed off the canvas in the final round against Wilder in their first clash in 2018, which was ruled a controversial draw, admits ‘The Bronze Bomber’ remains the hardest puncher he’s ever faced.
“Deontay, By far,” Fury said on The Stomping Ground.
“Francis Ngannou is a big puncher, but I wasn’t really troubled by any of his punches.
“It wasn’t like dynamite and every time he hit me I was wobbled or anything like that.
“Just one punch round the back of the head.
“So, Wilder is still the hardest puncher I have ever been hit by, by a mile.”
Fury is preparing to defend his WBC heavyweight title against unified WBA ‘super’, WBO and IBF heavyweight titlist, Oleksandr Usyk in a historic unification clash in Saudi Arabia on May 18, which will determine the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis achieved the feat in 1999.
The two-time heavyweight world champion had to delay his highly-anticipated showdown with the Ukrainian after suffering a cut in sparring, which shelved their original February 17 date.
’The Gypsy King’ was ringside in Riyadh to witness Anthony Joshua’s destructive second round knockout of Ngannou earlier this month and calls once again began for a long-awaited all-British clash between the rivals.
Despite Joshua’s impressive victory over the ex-UFC heavyweight champion, Fury believes the Watford man’s style is ideal for him.
“Styles make fights and my style for him is kryptonite,” Fury told DAZN.
“I’ve always said AJ is built to measure for me and just because he knocked out that guy with a right hand, it’s not the same.
“Boxing’s different. Styles make fights.
“We saw he couldn’t land any of those right hands on Usyk, a way smaller man, a lighter man.
“Boxing is a very difficult game. It’s changing all the time.
“Styles make fights and his style is made for me.”
