Could a Fight Between Tyson Fury and Ngannou Be On The Cards?

There is plenty of crossover between boxing and mixed martial arts, with several of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) elite fighters coming from a boxing background. A potential clash between Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and UFC heavyweight champion Francis “The Predator” Ngannou has been talked about and seems to be gathering pace.

Fury looked all set to take on fellow Briton Anthony Joshua in a unification fight that had the boxing community tingling with excitement. However, Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk outclassed and defeated Joshua by way of unanimous decision, putting the all-UK clash into significant doubt. Joshua is scheduled to have a rematch with Usyk, while the Fury most likely looks set to step into the ring with Dillion White.

Two-time heavyweight champion of the world, Fury has made it no secret that he is prepared to walk away from boxing and hang up his gloves. Fury thrives on major fights, testing himself against the best, and does not put White in that category. UFC’s Ngannou is a whole different story. A crossover fight between the two Goliaths has long been touted. Fury has even gone as far as training with Nick Diaz for his octagon debut, and both the combat sport experts and the biggest UFC betting sites suggest Fury is a clear favorite to come out on top.

Years of Boxing Experience

Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Why would Fury be a favorite to win an outstanding UFC fighter in the octagon? Because the fight will only feature boxing rules. Fury spoke to TMZ Sports in July, where he said, “Nick [Fury] looks good. Nick is training hard, and he is making his comeback. He did tell me that Ngannou can’t do any wrestling anyway, so we are just looking for a stand-up bang-out. Me and Ngannou in the small gloves, let’s make it happen. As soon as I am done with Wilder and Joshua, I will fight Ngannou in an octagon, in the four-ounce gloves and just punching.”

Renowned trainer Teddy Atlas believes Fury is a substantial favorite over Ngannou if the battle is set with boxing rules. Fury’s extensive experience in the ring gives him a considerable edge. Speaking to Submission Radio, Atlas revealed why he thinks a Fury versus Ngannou boxing fight would be rather one-sided.

“The guy who’s had 200 amateur fights, the guy who’s training in a gym all those years to be a top boxer, he’s gonna have a huge edge. Maybe an insurmountable edge, to be quite frank. We probably fool ourselves because we want to fool ourselves. We want to be entertained; we want to believe it. If you’re gonna support this fight, you wanna believe that the big monster from Cameroon can land a punch and knock the guy cold, even though he’s an MMA fighter and not a boxer.”

The Hardest Punch in the World

Ngannou would prove a significant test for Fury should the two stand toe-to-toe with each other in the octagon. The 35-year-old Cameroonian has the hardest recorded punch on the planet. Ngannou visited the UFC Performance Institute in 2017, where he recorded a punch of 129,161 units, surpassing the previous record held by kickboxer Tyrone Spong.His speed power measured at 51,064-foot-pounds/per second. UFC supremo Dana White likened Ngannou’s punching power to a 12lb sledgehammer.

Should this fight get off the ground, combat sports fans will hope it is a better spectacle than the last time boxing and UFC crossed over. Conor Mcgregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought in Las Vegas in August 2017 in what was billed The Biggest Fight in Combat Sports History. McGregor picked up a guaranteed $30 million (he collected a reported $130 million), which is one of the reasons Fury is keen on the Ngannou bout, but the fight itself was something of a damp squib. Although McGregor won a few rounds, Mayweather’s boxing prowess shone through, and the referee stopped the fight in the tenth round, citing a TKO. Here’s hoping Fury versus Ngannou is more of a contest if it ever happens.