Francis Ngannou massive betting underdog in potential boxing crossover with Tyson Fury
Following his official departure from the UFC earlier this month, former undisputed heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou remains a distinct, and quite frankly, massive betting underdog ahead of a potential transition to professional boxing against undisputed WBC best, Tyson Fury.
Ngannou, a former undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, saw his knockout-run through the promotion come to a halt, for the time being, at least earlier this month – with the UFC confirming their parting of ways with the Cameroonian.
Exiting the organization as the undisputed heavyweight champion, Ngannou was stripped of his title – with the UFC hosting a March 4. vacant title fight between the returning, Jon Jones, and former interim titleholder, Ciryl Gane to determine the new heavyweight champion.
In turn, Ngannou’s exit from the promotion also likely puts the skids on the promotion’s impending plans to host an event in Africa – with Kamaru Usman of Nigeria without his welterweight title, while Lagos favorite, Israel Adesanya, also dropped his championship to Alex Pereira at middleweight last November.
In the time since his departure, Ngannou’s future in combat sports remains up in the air – with the likes of the PFL and Bellator MMA offering the former UFC kingpin a route if he remains in mixed martial arts.
However, last year, Ngannou briefly entered the boxing ring at Wembley Stadium to confront WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury – with the prospect of the duo eventually meeting in either boxing, or a hybrid striking matchup suggested given the UFC’s now lack of involvement.
Ahead of a potential, projected clash, Ngannou sits currently as a sizeable underdog against Fury – in what would come as his professional boxing debut, sitting at +750. On the other hand, Morecambe native, Fury, the current WBC heavyweight champion is a massive -1500 favorite to retain his undefeated record and emerge victorious.
33-0-1 as a professional, Fury featured twice inside the squared circle last year, defeating the veteran pairing of Dillian Whyte, and Derek Chisora in knockout triumphs.
Yet to book his next professional outing, Fury has weighed up a potential champion versus champion clash with fellow world titleholder, Oleksandr Usyk – with the Ukrainian fresh off the back of consecutive wins over another British heavyweight talent, Anthony Joshua.
17-3 in mixed martial arts competition, Ngannou, a staple of Xtreme Couture, most recently unified the heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision win over the above-mentioned, Gane.
En route to UFC heavyweight gold, Ngannou landed earth-shattering knockout wins over the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Alistair Overeem, Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and, Jairzinho Rozenstruik – before clinching the title with a devastating knockout of Stipe Miocic in the pair’s rematch.
