By Charles Brun: The organizers of Saturday’s Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou event are taking a huge gamble, pricing it at $79.99 live on ESPN+ PPV because U.S. fans on social media are not interested in purchasing it.
Pricing this crossover event so high is an example of promoters having a tin ear to what fans want to see. No one is calling for Fury to fight an aging MMA guy in a boxing match. They want to see Fury show some courage and fight Oleksandr Usyk, and the Brits want to watch him face Anthony Joshua before it’s too late.
If there were a good undercard packaged with this event, American fans would be more tolerant of the sky-high price stage, but there’s nothing to see on the card that is decent & worth watching.
Many of them say they’ll illegally stream it or wait until the main event is posted on YouTube immediately afterward and watch it for free without paying the $79.99.
Fury-Ngannou undercard:
- Fabio Wardley vs. David Adeleye – career domestic-level fighters, neither of whom will ever win a world title at heavyweight
- Joseph Parker vs. Simon Kean – washed for WBO champion against an unknown
- Arslanbek Makhmudov vs.Junior Anthony Wright – The best heavyweight on the undercard going up against some second-tier guy
- Moses Itauma vs. Istvan Bernath – two heavyweights going nowhere fast
Can Ngannou’s power overcome Fury’s skills advantage?
“I have nothing against Francis Ngannou. He just doesn’t have the skill set to mess with this man [Tyson Fury], especially with his boxing debut,” said John Fury to Fight Hub TV.
Ngannou definitely doesn’t have the skills to match up with Fury, but we are talking about an older, inactive fighter who has been eating well and used his training camp as a fat farm for this contest.
Also, Tyson hasn’t had a true fight for a long time because he’s hesitated to get back with the A-level fighters since his war with Deontay Wilder in 2021. When you look at all the things Fury has going against him, you have to give Ngannou a significant chance of winning.
“He’s not left a stone unturned, twelve-week camp,” said John. “He’s probably trained more for Ngannou than anybody because he knows he’s going to bring strength, he’s going to bring something different, and you got to prepare for the difference. That’s what we’re looking at here.”
You can’t say that Fury has left no stone unturned during camp because he still looks fat as a hog around his midsection and tells you that he’s not skipped many meals.
If Fury truly left no stone unturned, you wouldn’t have the body of a middle-aged man that has been stuffing his piehole with delicacies and pizzas a-plenty.
“Tyson is as fit as he’s ever been in his life, and I have no qualms at all,” said John. I”‘m expecting a good night and an easy fight for Tyson. He’ll box his head off, but you never know when it’s under the lights. You’re messing with the real deal here with Tyson.”
What on earth is John talking about here? In what world is Tyson as “fit as he’s ever been?” He looks like he’s heading towards the old farm if he doesn’t trim down and slow down on the eating because he’s not in good shape, especially for an athlete.
“He’s seen it all before; he knows what to expect; he knows what he brings, power, and what does he do? He trains to avoid power and land his own power. That’s what it’s about,” John said about the 35-year-old Fury.
SugarHill needs to be fired because the last quality fighter that Fury fought in 2o21 had him down twice and should have been given a fourth round knockout victory.
Tyson must get through the fight injury-free
“It all depends on how it’s going to go on Saturday night. If Tyson is going to break both of his arms on Ngannou and stop him, he will do,” said John when asked if he thinks Fury will fight IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in December.
Out of all the things that John Fury said in this interview, this comment makes the most sense. If Tyson gets hurt on Saturday, he’s not going to be fighting Usyk on December 23rd unless he’s willing to fight at less than 100%.
Given Fury’s worry about fighting Usyk in the first place, there’s no chance he’ll agree to face him in December if he’s got some kind of ache or pain. Heck, even if Fury had a hangnail, he’d likely have the fight postponed because he doesn’t want to lose.
“You can never look that far. You can’t look past the night you are on,” said John. “We’re not looking past Saturday night. If he [Fury] has an easy night, fair enough, but we’re expecting Ngannou to bring something to his people, and he’s not going to go down easy.”
It would be a grave error on Fury’s part to go looking for a knockout in this fight because he’ll put his fragile chin at risk of getting dented by Ngannou, and we know he doesn’t have the best punch resistance.
The smart thing for Fury to do is jab from the outside, dance around, and avoid getting anywhere near Ngannou. It wouldn’t be a good idea for Fury to try the leaning & mauling bit that he tends to use because Ngannou has wrestling skills and is carrying around a lot more muscle on his 270+ lb frame.
Although Fury is over 270 lbs as well, his true weight is closer to 230 lbs once you subtract the fat that he’s carrying around on his fame.
“So, Tyson may suffer broken hands. You never know what happens in a brawl like this, but he ain’t going to pull no punches, and if his hand goes in the fight, how can the 23rd take place [against Usyk]?” said John. “Let’s say this much. If everything goes to plan like I think it will, the 23rd of December won’t be a problem.
“He doesn’t need more time. Tyson could defend them titles [correction: Fury only holds one title, the WBC strap] tomorrow. He works and has a couple of weeks off. I think the inactivity could go against Tyson.
“So with it [Usyk fight in December] being so quick, it works in Tyson’s favor again. He’ll stay sharp. It can only go in his favor. It all depends on what happens on Saturday night. We’re not looking past that,” said John Fury.
