Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou prediction, odds, pick, how to watch Heavyweight Boxing
The time has finally come for fans to see who the baddest man on the planet is. The worlds of boxing and MMA will clash once again as we see a crossover Heavyweight bout for the ages: Reigning WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury will welcome former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannouto his first professional boxing match as the two meet for 10 exhibition rounds.
Tyson Fury (33-0-1) currently holds the WBC World Heavyweight Title and has often been considered as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all time. He's had to overcome massive obstacles throughout his career, but Fury sees this fight as more of a “tune-up” fight before his real test with Oleksandr Usyk this December. Still, he runs the risk of getting knocked out, so it'll be up to Fury to show everyone why it's still him running this sport. Tyson Fury stands 6'9″ with an 85-inch reach.
Francis Ngannou (0-0) will be making his debut as a professional boxer and will be facing the arguable greatest heavyweight of all-time. He has an MMA record of 17-3 and just recently became the biggest signing in PFL history. However, he's long held this dream of becoming a professional boxer and his main goal on Saturday will be to show that world that he can truly hold his own in the ring, even against the heavyweight GOAT. Francis Ngannou stands 6'4″ with an 83-inch reach.
Here are the Boxing Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
Boxing Odds: Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou Odds
Tyson Fury: -1600
Francis Ngannou: +860
Over 4.5 rounds: -126
Under 4.5 rounds: -102
How to Watch Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou
TV: ESPN+ Pay-Per-View
Stream: ESPN+, Watch ESPN
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET/ 11:00 a.m. PT
*Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why Tyson Fury Will Win
With his technicality, use of footwork, and deceptive athleticism, Tyson Fury has become one of the heavyweight division's greatest mysteries in boxing. Ever since he rose from the dead and came back to beat Deontay Wilder in their rematch, he's been on a dominant path since and it's even cooler to see him take an exhibition fight like this. Although his belt won't be on the line, this fight is important to Fury as he tries to prove himself as the baddest man on the planet. Fury, of course, will have the massive upper-hand as Ngannou steps into his place of business. Tyson Fury should be looking to put on a show and focus on not getting hurt ahead of his bout with Oleksandr Usyk.
The biggest difference in this fight will be the footwork of Tyson Fury. For how big he is, he doesn't possess the greatest one-punch knockout power, but he has superior footwork and can easily dance around his opponents. From what we've seen out of Ngannou's sparring sessions, his movement in the ring is no where close to what Fury is capable of doing, so expect him to try and put on a clinic with his footwork.
If Tyson Fury can hang on the outside and continually stick Ngannou with his jabs, we should see very soon the massive boxing skill gap between the two. Still, Fury will have to stay defensively-minded and make sure nothing lands clean on his chin. While betting Francis Ngannou may be fun for all the MMA fans, real boxing fans know that this betting line is indicative of the massive skill discrepancy between these two.
Why Francis NgannouWill Win
Francis Ngannou came from nothing and now he's on his way to becoming one of the most valuable combat sports athletes on the planet. With his recent signing to PFL, Ngannou will be guaranteed to make massive amounts of money with each fight, but perhaps this fight could be the biggest of his career in terms of viewership. It should be very clear that while this is his first profession boxing match, Ngannou is fully intent on going out there and getting the win. Boxing was his original love and he's dreamt of this moment for a long time. His biggest goal will be to go out there and prove to the world that he, too, can box with the best of the world and his skills translate over to the ring.
From what we've seen during his MMA career, Francis Ngannou has devastating one-punch knockout power that we've seen tear through the UFC Heavyweight roster. He's onto bigger challenges now and he'll be facing one of his biggest opponents ever. He'll have to fight as the smaller man for once, but Ngannou has much more power in his hands than Fury and can easily stop this whole thing with just one clean shot to the chin.
The most interesting aspect to see will be how Ngannou's cardio holds up over the ten rounds. We've seen MMA fighters doing well when boxing in terms of conserving their cardio, but Ngannou may have some trouble with how active Fury is in his movement around the ring. I doubt Francis Ngannou will look for the knockout right away, but expect him to draw closer and closer with each passing round as he's intent on finding Fury's chin. If anyone's capable of knocking out the Heavyweight Champ of the world, it could be Francis Ngannou.
Final Tyson Fury-Francis NgannouPrediction & Pick
When it's all said and done, this will prove to be one of the biggest spectacles boxing has ever seen and it's without-a-doubt the biggest crossover boxing event since Mayweather vs. McGregor. When it comes to boxing skill, it doesn't get much better than Tyson Fury and Ngannou will have his hands full from a technical standpoint. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes these two fighters to meet in the middle and exchange big shots in the pocket.
Ultimately, I think the movement and finesse of Tyson Fury will be enough to fatigue Ngannou, taking a lot off his punches by the second-half of the fight. In a 10-round fight, both guys will have more energy to work with, but I don't expect either guy to waver much throughout. While taking Ngannou to win via knockout is never a bad bet, you have to see what Fury did to an Olympic boxer with similar power like Deontay Wilder. For our prediction, we'll take this fight to go over as both of these guys will try to put on a show. There's not much sense in betting either fighter due to the price, so we're going to sit back and enjoy this spectacle for what it's worth.
Final Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou Prediction & Pick: Tyson Fury (-1600); OVER 4.5 Rounds (-126)
