{"id":2407,"date":"2023-10-26T23:09:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T22:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=2407"},"modified":"2023-10-27T09:30:51","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T08:30:51","slug":"mike-tyson-was-allegedly-paid-handsomely-by-the-saudis-to-pretend-to-be-francis-ngannous-trainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/mike-tyson-was-allegedly-paid-handsomely-by-the-saudis-to-pretend-to-be-francis-ngannous-trainer\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tyson was allegedly paid handsomely by the Saudis to pretend to be Francis Ngannou&#8217;s trainer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to a report from Yahoo Sports journalist Kevin Iole, Mike Tyson was allegedly paid to play the role of Francis Ngannou&#8217;s trainer.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In two days, Francis Ngannou will take his first steps in the boxing ring. Find out the card, times and how to watch the fight here. The Cameroonian will face WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a 10-round, 3-minute fight. Unsurprisingly, the \u2018Predator\u2019 is considered the underdog in this clash. Tyson Fury is undefeated, has 33 wins and 1 draw in his professional boxing career. Despite being the former UFC heavyweight champion, Ngannou has no experience in boxing. Fortunately, the \u2018Predator\u2019 was able to count on the help of the legendary Mike Tyson for his preparation (see training videos here). He therefore has a little more chance of winning and shocking the planet\u2026 or not.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mike Tyson would not have really trained Francis Ngannou<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to a report from Yahoo Sports boxing and MMA journalist Kevin Iole, Mike Tyson was allegedly paid handsomely to act as Francis Ngannou&#8217;s trainer for promotional purposes. Kevin Lole spoke on his X account (formerly Twitter).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Saudis have paid Mike Tyson to act as Francis Ngannou\u2019s trainer (very, Very, VERY handsomely, I\u2019m told). They are flying in celeb boxers, including Pacquiao, Duran, Morales, Big George Foreman, MA Barrera, Joe Calzaghe, Tommy Hearns, Frank Bruno. Floyd Mayweather may go too<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kevin Iole (@KevinI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinI\/status\/1716929751628353730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">However, a surprising revelation shook the boxing world. A report by Yahoo Sports\u2019 Kevin Iole disclosed that Tyson\u2019s involvement was, in fact, a strategic move orchestrated by the Saudis. According to Iole, the Saudi organizers had paid Tyson handsomely to act as Ngannou\u2019s trainer. In addition to Tyson, the Saudis were also bringing in other celebrity boxers, including the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Roberto Duran, Erik Morales, George Foreman, Marco Antonio Barrera, Joe Calzaghe, Tommy Hearns, and Frank Bruno. There was even speculation about Floyd Mayweather joining this star-studded lineup.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Kevin Lole, Francis Ngannou was not really trained by Mike Tyson, who would have played the role of trainer to promote the fight.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2409 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1691447871.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1691447871.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1691447871-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1691447871-768x401.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/1691447871-696x364.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite this revelation, Tyson\u2019s presence in Ngannou\u2019s corner was seen as a masterstroke in promoting the fight. Fury himself acknowledged the impact of Tyson\u2019s involvement, praising the boxing legend\u2019s role in generating excitement for the event. Speaking to CBS Sports, Fury expressed his delight at having a living legend like Mike Tyson associated with the fight. He considered Tyson\u2019s presence in the same boxing ring where he would be competing as a fantastic honor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As fans eagerly anticipate the Fury vs. Ngannou showdown, questions loom over the true extent of Mike Tyson\u2019s involvement. Amidst marketing strategies and celebrity engagements, the upcoming clash between these exceptional athletes remains shrouded in speculation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Is Tyson\u2019s role in Ngannou\u2019s corner genuine, or merely a tactic to generate buzz? With fight night on the horizon, the truth remains undisclosed, leaving fans in suspense until the moment the fighters step into the ring.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>\u201cHe hasn\u2019t trained Francis but they figured his presence would bring attention to the event,\u201d he added in a follow-up post. \u201cDewey Cooper trained him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">He hasn\u2019t trained Francis but they figured his presence would bring attention to the event. Dewey Cooper trained him<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Kevin Iole (@KevinI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinI\/status\/1716947052750655687?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Tyson Fury Is Ready To Double Dip Into Saudi Arabia\u2019s Deep Pockets<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In recent years, Saudi Arabia has gotten heavily involved in multiple sporting ventures. In 2018,\u00a0World Wrestling Entertainment, which now flies under the same banner as the UFC, signed a 10-year deal with Saudi Arabia\u2019s General Sport Authority\u00a0to produce events in the Middle Eastern country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a report from Yahoo Sports journalist Kevin Iole, Mike Tyson was allegedly paid to play the role of Francis Ngannou&#8217;s trainer. In two days, Francis Ngannou will take his first steps in the boxing ring. Find out the card, times and how to watch the fight here. The Cameroonian will face WBC heavyweight [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2410,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2407\/revisions\/2410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}