Tyson Fury’s much anticipated return to the ring arrives as he takes on MMA heavyweight superstar Francis Ngannou in a 10 round exhibition bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The crossover fight has received much criticism from boxing fans, who feel the Gypsy King, who is the reigning lineal world heavyweight champion, should be facing up against Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian currently holds the remaining heavyweight titles and has welcomed a unifying bout with Fury.
Having not been in the ring since his demolition of Derek Chisora last December, perhaps Fury is using this as a tune up ahead of a clash with Usyk. Only time will tell. There’s still a job to do here however, so we’ll preview this exhibition bout in the hopes we can predict how it goes.
Boxing debut
This match up actually marks Francis Ngannou’s debut in a boxing ring, so he’s clearly confident that he can cause an upset. However, many feel he is set to be completely outclassed and is only taking this fight for the payday, which may well be the case. As a fighter at heart, he won’t want to be embarrassed and is even being trained by none other than Mike Tyson, the man whom his opponent is named after.
It’s a bit of a head scratcher from Fury’s point of view, who has it all to lose here if you exclude the money. Logically, this should be a straightforward win for the man who many regard as one of the best technical boxers of all time. Anything other than that would be nothing short of embarrassing for Fury and his legacy.
Don’t expect a knockout
These types of fights very rarely produce a knockout, so don’t expect to be widely entertained from that perspective on Saturday night. It’s more likely that Fury will use this bout to get rid of any ring rust that he may be suffering from and will simply go through the gears on his way to a unanimous verdict win.
Ngannou will have designs of his own, of course, however in order to win he is likely going to have to do something no man has ever done and knock out Tyson Fury. Based on the public workout that was shared via social media, Ngannou will be lucky to land a jab on the Gypsy King. It’s difficult to tell whether he was intentionally trying to look bad, so as to throw off his opponent.
Going the distance
We know that Fury conditions himself so well for any fight and he’s never shy to go the distance with anyone. Five of his last seven bouts have gotten to the 10th round at least, so it’s unlikely we’ll see an early finish. Fury likes to put on a show, so expect plenty of that in the ring walk, but it will be all business once he steps into the squared circle in the Middle East on Saturday night. It should be a spectacle.
