Francis Ngannou has opened up on his recent argument with Tyson Fury as his blockbuster fight with Anthony Joshua creeps closer.
Ngannou impressed against Fury back in October but lost via split decision, despite knocking his opponent down in round three.
Andy Lee, who is close to Fury, recently revealed Ngannou and the Gypsy King had an argument in Saudi Arabia.
Lee also said that Josua witnessed the war of words, with the Watford-born star 'not saying a word' to Fury.
Boxing news: Francis Ngannou has shared his side of the story after an explosive row with Tyson Fury
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And Ngannou has now shared his side of the story, admitting he was confronted by Fury to kick the whole debacle off.
“When we met, he said I called him a coward and I said, ‘Wow, where did you hear that from? I never made that statement about anybody," he told MMA Junkie.
"I never called anybody a coward, unless you’re really a coward.'
“But I don’t care to call a man that steps in the ring to fight another man, a coward.
“He said, ‘Yeah, you said you beat me.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I did beat you – that doesn’t mean I called you a coward. But I did beat you.’
"Then he was like, ‘Why does your record say 0-1?’ I’m like, ‘Well, if it’s about the record, I really start to doubt now if what your record says is true, because I did beat you.’
"Then I think the argument was about that. I had to ask him like, ‘In fact, why did your fight get postponed from December to February?’ He said he got cut.
"I asked, ‘Did you slip on the floor or something?’ No, he didn’t slip. Why did you find yourself on the floor in the fight? You didn’t slip. I had my statement to make.”
Ngannou has, however, made it clear he's unfazed by Fury's comments.
And the 37-year-old has admitted he's keen for a rematch, even if Joshua is his priority for the time being.
“Either way, for me, it wasn’t a problem,” Ngannou stated.
“It wouldn’t be a problem if someone thought they had a win over me in competition.
"If it goes to decision, people have the right to believe they won or the judges got it wrong.
"It seems for him to be a problem. I said, ‘Either way, we don’t have to sort this out now.’ We will run it back.
"He better be ready because I will be ready.
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Boxing news: Francis Ngannou faces off against Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia this Friday
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"He will not be my first battle anymore and I’m going to bring everything that I have with me and I’m going to throw it all.
“I was very calm. I told him, ‘The only moment that you have a chance is in the boxing ring.’ The only chance he has is when the boxing rules apply.”
Fury, meanwhile, has admitted to elbowing Ngannou during their fight in October.
He said: "I hear a lot of this coward talk from the two-time heavyweight champion of the world.
"There was 10 knockdowns in them Wilder trilogies, I went to Germany to fight Klitschko and the US to fight Wilder.
Boxing news: Tyson Fury beat Francis Ngannou via split decision back in October
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"Where’s all this coward s**t come from? Who am I a coward from? I don’t get it.
"The one thing I can gauge is I hit him [Ngannou] with some flush punches in the face, quite a lot, and even an elbow right in the face.
"He never went over, so regardless of my performance and his performance, I know he’s a tough so a gun.
"I couldn’t really tell if he was good or bad because I wasn’t having a good performance."
