Even one of the most steadfast salesmen in boxing history hasn’t tried to portray Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou as something that it’s not.

Bob Arum admits that Ngannou has nothing more than a puncher’s chance to upset boxing’s best heavyweight. The 92-year-old promoter just hopes that the unbeaten WBC champion he represents along with Frank Warren doesn’t help Ngannou’s cause by trading with the hard-hitting former UFC star during their 10-round, non-title fight Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Arum gave his take on Fury-Ngannou to co-hosts Dev Sahni and Andy Clarke during the fighters’ grand arrivals Tuesday night in Riyadh.

“That guy was training in my home city of Las Vegas,” Arum said of Ngannou, “and the word got back to me from everybody who was watching him that he was knocking guys down in the gym, and that he has the most powerful punch that they’ve seen. That being said, he doesn’t have the boxing experience that Tyson Fury has. But I just hope that Tyson is smart enough, and I’m sure he is, not to stand toe-to-toe with this guy and trade punches.”

Warren, who was interviewed alongside Arum, isn’t so sure Fury will refrain from slugging at times with the 6-foot-4, 258-pound Ngannou, who will make his pro boxing debut.

“What Bob’s saying is a sensible way to go about it,” Warren said. “But what he’s done his last couple of fights with, certainly with Deontay Wilder, he stood toe-to-toe with the biggest punching heavyweight in the last 40 or 50 years.”

Arum couldn’t help but remind Warren that Fury’s strategy nearly cost him during his third fight with Wilder, who floored Fury twice in the fourth round of their October 2021 bout at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“Well, that wasn’t so smart,” Arum quipped. “He got knocked down twice.”

Warren agreed with his partner and is simply hopeful that the 6-foot-9, 270-pound Fury, who knocked out Wilder in the 11th round of their third meeting, emerges from this bout with Ngannou without cuts or other injuries that will delay his title unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk. England’s Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and Ukraine’s Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) have signed contracts for a highly anticipated clash that could take place as soon as December 23 in Riyadh.

“I’m with you on it,” Warren told Arum in reference to Fury’s aggression almost costing him against Wilder. “Don’t worry about that. I’m with you, but he done it. And obviously, his eye will be on he wants to fight again before the end of the year. So, I don’t want him to get fazed by that. I just want him to go out and do a job, and do it properly. But I think it’s gonna be very exciting.”

TNT Sports Box Office will offer Fury-Ngannou as the main event of a pay-per-view event in the United Kingdom (£21.95; 7 p.m. BST). ESPN will distribute it as the headliner of a pay-per-view show in the United States ($79.99; 2 p.m. EDT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.