Tyson Fury to retire after Whyte bout, but eyes 'special' fight with UFC's Francis Ngannou

Tyson Fury says he will retire from boxing following next month’s soldout clash with Dillian Whyte – and then set his sights on a crossover fight with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The undefeated Brit, who holds the WBC and lineal heavyweight belts, defends his titles against compatriot Whtye at London's Wembley Stadium on April 23, with organisers reporting on Wednesday night that 100,000 tickets had sold within hours . Fighting in the UK for the first time in four years, Fury claims the bout against the No 1 mandatory challenger will represent his last in boxing. At present, his professional record stands at 31 wins and one draw from 32 contests. “This is the final countdown of ‘The Gypsy King,’” Fury told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Wednesday night. “Hollywood awaits. This is my retirement fight. One-hundred thousand people at Wembley, all-British world title fight. Return of the Mack after four years to the UK. “This is it, going out on a high. Retiring on top. Two-time world heavyweight champion and I’ll have made eight defences of the lineal championship. Never to lose a fight. To go down as only the second heavyweight in history to retire unbeaten: me and Rocky Marciano.” Fury, 33, did later concede that he could be tempted back into boxing years from now , but that he did not need to compete in the sport for money any longer. He is set to make at least $32 million from the fight against Whyte. However, Fury said he has designs on a number of “special” fights against other stars of combat sports, including Ngannou. The Cameroonian, 35, is currently recovering from a knee injury that is expected to sideline him for the remainder of the year. In the final fight on his UFC contract, Ngannou overcame the injury to defeat No 1-ranked heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 last month . Both Ngannou and Fury have been teasing their potential match-up during the past few months. “I don’t count that as a real boxing fight,” Fury said. “That’s going to be a ‘special’ fight. That will be in a cage in four-ounce gloves, in Las Vegas, at the Raiders Stadium ... “I will have retired from competitive, championship boxing and I’ll be ready to do the crossover fights completely. He won’t be the UFC heavyweight champion anymore, I won’t be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore. But I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can’t take that from me.” Fury confirmed that talks with Ngannou have yet to take place, but he has in mind already how he would want that bout to happen. Fury last fought in October, defeating Deontay Wilder by 11th-round knockout in their trilogy in Las Vegas . “We’ve got Francis Ngannou, he’s a big guy, a big dangerous guy,” he said. “People going on, ‘Oh, it’s not a fair fight in 10-ounce gloves,’ and that’s correct. It wouldn’t be a fair fight in 10-ounce gloves because like [former UFC two-division champion Daniel] Cormier said recently, he said Francis Ngannou is a much cruder version of Deontay Wilder, and we all know what happened there. “So I think if we’re doing four-ounce gloves, he’d have a bit more chance of knocking me out. But then again, I’d have a bit more chance of knocking him out also. So it makes for an exciting fight. And I will try to come in at my heaviest for that fight. I’ll try to come in over 300 pounds ... just to nail him to the canvas with one solid punch.”

Tyson Fury to retire after Whyte bout, but eyes 'special' fight with UFC's Francis Ngannou

Undefeated Brit defends WBC and lineal heavyweight titles against Whyte at Wembley next month