Boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou are set to battle on Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under boxing rules in a regulation boxing ring. The fight will feature three ringside judges using the 10-point must system. However, it is still unclear whether it will count towards their professional boxing records, how many rounds will be played, and whether Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will be up for grabs.
“I can’t wait to get back out there under the lights,” Fury said in a statement. “I’m looking forward to showing the world that The Gypsy King is the greatest fighter of his generation in an epic battle with another master of his craft.”
“I’m looking forward to showing the world that The Gypsy King is the greatest fighter of his generation in an epic battle with another master of his craft.”
Tyson Fury
“My dream was always to box, and to box the best,” Ngannou said in his statement. “After becoming the undisputed MMA Heavyweight Champion, this is my opportunity to make that dream come true and cement my position as the baddest man on the planet.”
On Tuesday, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stated that Tyson Fury was granted special permission to fight Francis Ngannou since there is currently no official challenger.
Tyson Fury wanted to fight Usyk before the Francis Ngannou fight
According to Sulaiman, Fury attempted to secure bouts against Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, and Andy Ruiz, but to no avail. After his sixth-round TKO win over Dillian Whyte to maintain his WBC heavyweight title in London, Fury and Ngannou hinted at a future encounter, sharing the ring in April 2022.
“Big Francis Ngannou is here today,” Fury said at the time. “He’s on my hit list in an exhibition fight, however he wants it: in a cage, in a boxing ring, boxing gloves, UFC gloves, we can make it happen. I think everyone wants to see it. He’s a monster of a guy, I’m a monster of a guy, so it will be a clash of the titans for sure.”
In December, the 34-year-old Englishman fought Derek Chisora for a third time, winning in the 10th round by stoppage and maintaining the top spot in ESPN’s heavyweight rankings.
Fury and Ngannou’s MMA records are sensational!
Although Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) was in talks to face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship in April at London’s Wembley Stadium, negotiations fell through in March. Fury, the seventh-ranked pound-for-pound boxer, will face one of the most well-known combat sports figures in a star-studded event in the Middle East.
Francis Ngannou (20-3-3 MMA record) last fought in January 2022, retaining his UFC heavyweight championship with a unanimous-decision triumph over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270. That was Ngannou’s last battle in the Octagon. After he disagreed on a contract extension with the UFC, Ngannou parted ways with the MMA organization in January.
He will now make his boxing debut, fulfilling a lifelong dream he set out to achieve when he fled Cameroon for France at the age of 26. Ngannou, who is now 36, had surgery in March to fix his MCL and ACL. He signed a deal with the PFL two months later, which allowed him to participate in boxing as well.
“My next step has to be boxing,” Ngannou told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in March. “I want to do one boxing match first, and then maybe go back to MMA because I still enjoy MMA. I want to do a couple of fights in boxing. We are working on some stuff, and hopefully, in a month or two, I will be able to come out with an announcement on potential fight dates and locations.
“It’s taking a little longer than I expected, but it’s coming along. Big things come with time.”
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