Retired boxing superstar Amir Khan says his phone conversation with heavyweight world champion, Tyson Fury, set up his cross-code battle with UFC star Francis Ngannou last weekend.

Fury won on a split-decision by points against the Cameroon MMA heavyweight in Saudi Arabia last Saturday, though it was a controversial outcome with many experts believing Ngannou edged the Riyadh contest after knocking Fury down during the 10-round bout.

It was certainly a showdown that gained worldwide attention and Bolton’s former unified world champion, Khan, says he played a part in it happening at all.

Speaking to TNT Sports before the fight, Khan joked he was not getting the credit he deserved for his role in making the ‘Battle of the Baddest’ happen.

“You’ve got two giants: Tyson Fury, one of the best heavyweight boxers out there, and you’ve got Ngannou, who is one of the best UFC fighters in the heavyweight division,” 36-year-old Khan said.

“I don’t know if you know this, but do you know who called Tyson first to say I’ve got a fight deal for you? Yeah, it was [me].

“I don’t like to take the full credit for it, but I was the one who said, ‘Look, I’ve got a fight for you. They want to come and see you’.

“I got them to fly from Dubai, all the way to where Tyson lives, Morecambe, they had a meeting there, and then boom, it got done, made.

“But listen, they forget about Amir Khan then, don’t they?

“It’s all good. At the end of the day, I did it because he’s my friend and I wanted to give him this opportunity because I fought there so why not?”

Khan says the Fury camp had been eyeing a fight with Anthony Joshua before the Ngannou deal was finalised.

The Boltonian Athens Olympic silver medalist expected the winning outcome for Fury but warned pre-fight he would not have it all his own way.

Khan had said: “If you look at the power he [Ngannou] has got, he’s knocking everyone out, whoever they put in front of him, he’s gone in there and sparked them out basically.

“Not really knocked them down and got the decision, but knocked them out clean.

“He’s got power. Now I know he’s wearing a little bit heavier gloves, but he’s got more protection when he’s got those gloves on, so he’s going to put everything into it.

“He knows this is a massive opportunity for him, because this is life-changing.

“I think he’s going to grab this with both hands, and having Mike Tyson in his corner, that’s a good move, but what I’m quite surprised by is that Mike Tyson would not go in anyone’s corner if he didn’t think they could win.

“His reputation is on the line and he’s not going to throw that reputation down, especially when Tyson Fury got his name from Mike Tyson.

“He believes this guy could knock out Tyson Fury.”

Unbeaten Fury, who used to train at his former gym in Bolton, is now scheduled for another mega fight on December 23 against Oleksandr Usyk.