The defense of the belt culminated in a very inauspicious manner when Tom Aspinall suffered an eye poke in the first round, affecting his eyesight. As a result of the eye poke, the fight was waved off at the 4:35 mark of the opening stanza and was ruled a no contest.
Although Aspinall didn’t get the fight ending he or his supporters had hoped for in late October, the champion’s advantage meant he would retain the title until 2026. As previously mentioned, a rematch between Aspinall and Gane for the former’s title will be placed on the UFC’s schedule once the champion is cleared to return to competition.
Embed from Getty Images
Tom Aspinall meets Tommy Fury for a gym session
As Aspinall’s recovery from the eye poke continues, he recently… vlogged on YouTube to take viewers and subscribers for a visit with heavyweight boxer Tommy Fury. During the visit, Tom Aspinall gave his audience an update on exactly where he is in his recovery.
“My eye can’t do anything other than sit there and push and pull things,” Aspinall said. The video followed Aspinall on a drive to a gym where he met Fury and playfully chided him for showing up late after Aspinall himself arrived late.
“We had to be here at ten o’clock,” he said. “It’s 10:14 am. We were stressed about being late. No sign of Tommy. We walked in, it was just a bloody tumbleweed passing by. No sign of Tommy this morning.”
When Aspinall called Fury ‘a diva’ for his late arrival, cameras caught the latter before the video cut while Aspinall was doing some strength training.
Tom Aspinall mentions that he would like to eventually turn to the sweet science of boxing
This video also featured a revelation from the current King of the Mountain at 265 pounds: once his MMA career is complete, Tom Aspinall wants to try his luck in the world of boxing.
“I would never be a world champion,” he said. “I wouldn’t try to become a world champion. You have to dedicate your whole life, don’t you, to become a world champion. I now spend my whole life in MMA, [don’t] I? I’m almost 33 now, so if I’m 33 and think I’m going to win a world boxing title, that’s unrealistic.”
Although Tom Aspinall has no aspirations for the world heavyweight championship in boxing, he does have potential opponents in mind for possible fights in the ring.
“In the settlement [that] I could have some, not crazy show fights, but big fights, you know what I mean, against a big name,” he told Fury.” I wouldn’t mind boxing an MMA fighter. [like Francis] Ngannou. I think that would be good.” Aspinall said any transition into boxing would only happen after his UFC days are over.
Idea of Tom Aspinall switching to boxing, not far-fetched by any means
In this current era of crossover fighting in boxing, the idea that Tom Aspinall could transition from MMA to boxing at a later date is something that fans of the sport could welcome. Francis Ngannou switched to boxing against Tyson Fury in 2023, but saw the fight go to the scorecards.
Ngannou suffered a split-decision defeat at the hands of Fury. Because of Ngannou’s effort against Fury, the WBC ranked him No. 10 in heavyweight after the fight. Undeterred by the loss to Tyson Fury, he returned in March to face Anthony Joshua, with the latter finishing the former inside the second round of a scheduled 10.
Although Francis Ngannou was unsuccessful in both of his boxing conquests, if given the right training and ramp-up time, Tom Aspinall can be a brilliant boxer. Aspinall is a household name in the UFC and should he make the transition to boxing, this is a name that could drive up pay-per-view buy rates in the future.
#Tom #Aspinall #hints #exciting #turn #boxing #run