By Geoffrey Ciani: Coming up on October 28th from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a bout that will be broadcast in the US live on ESPN+ PPV, WBC and lineal world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Fury’s WBC title will not be on the line in this one, but reportedly it will be officially counted as a professional bout – kind of like the similar situation from several years back when Floyd Mayweather came out of retirement and beat Connor McGregor in another boxing-MMA crossover event that was officially counted as a professional boxing match.
Tyson Fury first won the lineal, IBF, WBA, and WBO heavyweight world championship when he defeated long reigning heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko way back in 2015. The IBF stripped him of their title a mere 10 days later, and Fury was then out of boxing for almost 3 years when he was suffering from depression and personal issues, during which time he vacated his other remaining alphabet titles (the WBA and WBO). Fury returned to boxing in 2018, and in his third fight back in 2018, he fought to a draw with WBC champion Deontay Wilder. Fury won the WBC belt in his rematch with Wilder, and he has defended that belt three times, winning his third bout with Wilder, and also defending the belt against mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte, and most recently Fury beat Dereck Chisora in their third bout which happened last December.
Francis Ngannou has never had a professional boxing match in his life. Indeed, he will be making his professional debut against the Gypsy King. Even though Ngannou is a novice in the realm of the sweet science, he does have experience in combat sports where he was a celebrated figure in mixed martial arts. Ngannou made his UFC debut back in December 2015, just a month after Fury had outclassed the technically gifted Wladimir Klitschko. Ngannou went on to win the UFC heavyweight championship in March 2021, beating Stipe Miocic for the honors – a man who had previously beaten Ngannou in his only previous UFC title fight. He defended that title once before parting ways with UFC over a dispute involving his contract renewal.
So who will win the upcoming heavyweight boxing event between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that question and also provide a quick preview of the upcoming heavyweight contest. Please watch and enjoy the video. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani).