FRANCIS NGANNOU has drawn unwanted comparisons to serial excuse maker Deontay Wilder following defeat to Anthony Joshua.
Ngannou was brutally knocked out by Joshua in two rounds of their Saudi showdown which started at 3am local time.
And the MMA star claimed he was picked up to go to the arena too early and was tricked into waiting around for hours until the fight.
Ngannou, 37, said on The MMA Hour: “Listen, we both fought at 3am.
“What I think happened is that they get me to the arena very early. Like my pickup time was 10.30pm to go to the arena.
“And then when we get to the arena, they tell us that we are scheduled around 1:45am right?
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“They come to the locker around 1am and Joshua [was just arriving around 1]. I’m like, ‘OK, we are fighting at the same time, how come I have a pickup time?’
“We received a schedule, an email, and then for some reason I was there at least one hour before. But for the fight, at least two hours beforehand.
“They do this kind of trick to get you tired. I was like cool, I was like, ‘Bro, it’s okay.’
“I didn’t know how important that was, until the fight day that I had to get there two hours before.”
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Ngannou showed shades of Wilder, who infamously gave a string of excuses following his rematch loss to Tyson Fury.
They ranged from his ring walk outfit being too heavy, his water being spiked by his own coach and suffering a bicep injury.
And after his most recent loss to Joseph Parker in December, he complained of a 20-hour flight and lack of sparring for the bout.
So Ngannou was likened to Wilder when claiming he was taken to the arena too early for his liking.
One said: “Did he hire Deontay Wilder as a spin doctor?”
Another added: “Francis Ngannou/Deontay Wilder. Excuse machines.”
Ngannou – who was still having medical checks a WEEK after the KO – put his MMA career on hold to make a switch to boxing.
He faced Fury, 35, on his debut, even scoring a knockdown, before losing a controversial split-decision.
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But his compressive defeat to Joshua, 34, leaves his boxing future in doubt amid talk of a return to MMA.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
