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Andre Ward is down to see Tyson Fury face both Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou.
The WBC heavyweight champion is among the major names Ngannou would like to face in a boxing match prior to making his promotional debut for PFL next year.
Meanwhile, Fury has also been challenged to a fight inside the Octagon with Jon Jones by UFC president Dana White to determine who the real baddest man on the planet is.
Whether either of those fights happen or are even realistic in the first place is another conversation, but for former undisputed light heavyweight champion Ward, he'd like to see both of them happen.
“Personally, I would like to see both,” Ward said on The MMA Hour when asked which fight he'd prefer to see. “I understand what Dana is doing. I mean, when I really think about it, I don’t feel as strong about it as MMA fans. I know what they’re saying. I follow MMA and I know it’s like, ‘Come on, Dana, like really? One minute you were saying this now you’re switching up.’
“So I get what Dana is doing, he’s a promoter, and in essence, he’s promoting his guy. But I respect Jon Jones’ fight game and I would like to see the [Jones vs.] Tyson Fury thing, or the Francis [fight].”
But with that said, Ward doesn't see either of them happening at least in the near future as he feels it's not the right time.
Instead, the American would like to see Fury have a meaningful boxing match first — especially with his overall inactivity in the sport and collapsed negotiations over a heavyweight title unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
“I don’t see Tyson really fighting either one of those guys,” Ward explained. “I think Tyson will take a bag like Floyd did, but I think Tyson is really trying to figure this boxing thing out. I want to see what happens with him with this [next fight] because he seems to have trouble getting a fight in boxing, much less an MMA fight, and I don’t think right now Tyson Fury should do that.
“You’ve been off with boxing, the boxing world is a bit upset. They’re clamoring like, ‘Dude, what’s next? We hear you talk, but where’s the fight?’ If he took that, if he veered that way right now, I don’t think it’d be the right time. Get a boxing fight, Joshua, something like that, and then go fight one of those guys.”
Tyson Fury last competed in December when he TKO'd Derek Chisora. Overall, he has fought just twice since the start of 2022.
