Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou: B/R Staff Predictions
Ever wonder where the heavyweight intersection of boxing and MMA was located?
Apparently, it's in Saudi Arabia.
And, to hear Tyson Fury tell it, it's part of the "entertainment" district.
Indeed, the consensus big-man champion of the ring and the recently deposed octagonal menace will meet Saturday in the desert kingdom in what the unbeaten Brit promises to be a spectacle unlike any other we've witnessed.
"It'll be the two baddest mother f--kers on the planet meeting in the center of a ring and someone is going to get knocked spark out," he told Bleacher Report last month.
"To me, that's entertainment."
The two will compete in a 10-round encounter in Riyadh that's being billed by the WBC, whose title belt Fury holds, as a heavyweight special event but not a championship bout.
Ngannou has never boxed professionally and hasn't competed in MMA in 21 months.
Fury, meanwhile, has said he's already agreed to a unification bout with fellow title claimant Oleksandr Usyk that's penciled in for late December or early 2024.
"I'm coming to take the guy's head off, and he'll be coming for mine. It's a fight," Fury said of the matchup with Ngannou. "I'm not out there to dance around for a bunch of rounds. I don't get paid extra for overtime."
It's a lot for the B/R combat team to digest, but we're feeling frisky enough to go public with our predictions on the weekend extravaganza. Click through to take a look at our respective viewpoints and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.
I can't pretend I'm not rooting for Ngannou in this strange but undeniably appealing crossover showdown. He has had an unfathomably difficult life. He underwent a harsh journey from Cameroon to Spain. He spent time in a Spanish prison as a result of his journey to Europe. He lived on the streets of Paris.
In spite of all that, he has already achieved more than most MMA fighters could ever dream of, beating the likes of Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic en route to winning the UFC heavyweight title. To see him take things even further by beating one of the greatest boxers of a generation in his boxing debut? It would be one of the most epic sporting feats in modern history. That's not hyperbole.
I want to believe it's possible. I really, really want to believe it. But how can you possibly pick Ngannou over Fury, who will be younger, taller, longer, faster, more experienced and levels better at boxing when they step into the ring together this Saturday? It just can't be done with a straight face.
Yes, Ngannou has a ton of punching power. The 37-year-old could punch a planet out of orbit, and all it will take for him to shock the world is one good punch. But landing that punch against Fury, 35, who moves as well as any heavyweight I've ever seen, is going to be incredibly difficult—and more and more so as the fight goes on.
I'll give Ngannou a minuscule chance of blowing Fury away in a wild exchange in the opening seconds of this fight, but I'm sure not betting on it. My guess is Fury plays the matador for a few rounds—at worst catching a few shots on the shoulders and arms—then takes over when Ngannou slows down, which may not take long. From there, it's just a question of how long he wants to play with his food.
Fury by TKO, Round 5
—Tom Taylor
Fury vs. Ngannou—seriously, what are we talking about here? Respect to Ngannou and his fans, but this "fight" feels more like a circus sideshow than a real boxing match. I mean, they've already got Fury booked for his next fight vs. Usyk for crying out loud. Ngannou is a force in the Octagon with both heart and power, but stepping into a boxing ring against Fury, a heavyweight legend?
It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Fury's a unified champ, a ring genius. We're talking footwork, IQ and speed—all his advantage. Sure, Ngannou might hang around for a few rounds, but the outcome? Fury's victory, no doubt.
Props to Ngannou for trying (and getting the bag), but let's not kid ourselves. This mismatch is like watching a cat chase a laser pointer—fun for a bit, but you know how it ends. Round 7 or 8, Fury will put this circus to rest. We might as well enjoy the spectacle while it lasts, but real boxing? We're waiting for that comeback, where matchups are as fierce as the fighters.
Fury by TKO, Round 8
—Doug Brown
Let's get one thing straight.
Pondering an image of a competition-ready Ngannou standing across from me, in a cage or a ring or a bounce house, for that matter, is terrifying.
But let's get another thing straight.
I'm a 54-year-old man whose combat experience consists of clumsy sparring in a north Philadelphia gym and surviving a right hand from a former multi-division champion in Florida well enough to prompt a trainer to comment, "well, you take a pretty good shot."
In other words, Fury has got a smidge less to worry about.
Not only is he taller and longer than Ngannou, his boxing chops have been good enough to handle each of the 30 men with whom he's shared a ring, all of whom had skills of their own that were far superior to the 37-year-old novice with whom he's matched here.
So, while I appreciate a good spectacle as much as the next guy, let's not pretend this weekend's extravaganza is anything more than what it is—a legalized cash grab whose ultimate objective is to build interest in Fury's real fight against Oleksandr Usyk, and perhaps put Ngannou over enough to make people want to watch whatever he does next, too.
It's not quite WWE.
But it's as uncomfortably close as boxing might want to get if credibility still matters.
Fury by TKO, Round 6
—Lyle Fitzsimmons
