Fury to Ngannou: Fight me to 'make some real money'

Tyson Fury is giving Francis Ngannou the sign: If he wants to make some serious cash, he knows whom to call.

The world heavyweight boxing champion is apparently still interested in a crossover bout with Ngannou after the latter retained the UFC heavyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane on Saturday.

Fury congratulated Ngannou on Twitter and suggested "The Predator" fight him for "some real money."

Ngannou responded with a mock poster for a potential match against Fury set for 2022.

Ngannou took home a base purse of $600,000 for his title defense against Gane.

In comparison, Fury reportedly earned about $30 million for his trilogy bout against Deontay Wilder last October, which includes his share of the pay-per-view revenue.

Several years ago, Ngannou established his desire to step into the boxing ring at some point in his combat sports career, and he has talked about boxing Fury since winning the UFC belt in 2021.

Fury and Ngannou have exchanged words on social media in recent weeks, with the former saying he would be willing to box Ngannou while wearing the smaller UFC gloves.

Ngannou competed in the final fight of his current UFC deal on Saturday, but he remains under contract due to a champion's clause. The 35-year-old, who has been at odds with the MMA promotion in recent months, said after the win he believes he would become a free agent in about a year if he doesn't ink a new pact.