WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who is considered to be one of the best fighters not just in his division but also his generation, has inexplicably made the oddest move of his career while arguably in the prime of his career; he will be fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Ngannou, who has never had a professional boxing match in his life, will be facing Tyson Fury on October 28th in Saudi Arabia, as confirmed today by Queensberry Promotions.
The news can be safely described as utter disappointment given Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO’s) had been slated to fight Oleksandr Usyk this year. A match between the two heavyweights would make for an unprecedented heavyweight fight for the right to win all the belts and become undisputed, but it was not to be after talks collapsed.
Francis Ngannou, best known for his stint in the UFC, is not a professional boxer and has never fought as an amateur or as a professional yet has been given the opportunity to face Tyson Fury, though not for his WBC or The Ring titles. However, it shows perhaps a disconnect from Tyson Fury’s part to knowingly face a fighter that has never fought as a boxer professionally, all while Fury is still known as an active champion.
The only thing that seems to be at stake in this fight is the title of “Baddest Man on the Planet”. The bout between Ngannou and Fury clearly seems to be a blatant moneygrab rather than a genuine competitive bout, and now heavily puts Fury’s own motivation and claims of “being the best” under jeopardy with his willingness to fight a MMA fighter with a 0-0 record in professional boxing.
Styled as a “mega-fight” by Queensberry, unless otherwiser indicated, there is a strong possibility that the bout will be a glorified exhibition despite the declaration that it will follow the normal rules of professional boxing. Like the Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight, Tyson Fury is now attempting to “break the mold” by facing Francis Ngannou but unlike Mayweather, the British heavyweight is not in the latter stages of his career while approaching 40 years of age. And there’s little to no justifying such a match-up other than the sheer pursuit of money.
In the upcoming months, there will be marketing and promotion for this event which will attempt to legitimize what is essentially more of a circus show rather than an actual boxing match. Fury, a boxer who has been engaged in the sport since a very young age, has no business fighting with Francis Ngannou while he remains the active WBC world and The Ring lineal champion, regardless of what Ngannou has achieved outside of boxing.
Ngannou’s incredible rags-to-riches story and Fury’s achievements as a heavyweight will be used to entice people to buy into the fight, but it is not a match that should be acknowledged by any boxing or MMA fan. With there being no word of Fury being stripped of his title for fighting a boxer with not a single professional fight t his name, it also simply adds to the corruption that seems to be rife in the sport.
Boxing has undoubtedly taken a loss on this day of the announcement, and will further suffer blows when the match commences. However, Tyson Fury has now foiled his own reputation with this move, and it will be curious to see how he will pick up his career after this blatant show of greed.
It will be a massive opportunity for Francis Ngannou but he stands no chance against any top heavyweight. Ngannou’s reputation likely won’t suffer this much and it will be a great opportunity for him to earn a massive amount of money while facing a top heavyweight boxer, but he also deserves criticism for even entertaining a fight with an active champion who could have been fighting anyone except for a debutant in professional fighting.
However, Ngannou is not to blame for Tyson Fury’s decision to face him rather than any other heavyweight that actually deserves to fight for a title. It also goes to show the state of the heavyweight division. While other heavyweights are attempting to further their careers by taking challenging fights or fulfilling their obligations as champions, Fury has instead decided to make a move that would make more sense if he was retired and had reached the back-end of his career.
Boxing will not benefit from this fight. Money will be made and eyes will be drawn to the sport on this one occasion, but the heavyweight division will remain stagnant due to fact Fury is still a titleholder and is actively keeping other fighters from challenging him to face a 0-0 boxer; a boxer who he will soundly defeat due to the vast difference in skill and experience.
It is still unknown on whether the bout will be an exhibition or a professional match, but the WBC has not indicated whether the heavyweight title will be made available or not. Fury has, however, been granted ‘special permission’ by the WBC to fight Francis Ngannou; the special permission thereby enabling Fury to keep his title without needing to face any top 10 fighter within the WBC heavyweight rankings.
