The so-called “Battle of the Baddest” will see boxing champion Tyson Fury take on MMA great Francis Ngannou in a spectacle featuring two fighters at the top of their fields.
It will mark former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou’s first boxing bout – and he’s starting against a man considered by many to be the best of his weight class in undefeated lineal and WBC heavyweight champion Fury.
The highly anticipated 10-round showdown is a non-title fight, yet Fury claims there is more on the line for him now than in any of his previous battles.
Here’s everything you need to know about the fight.
When and where is it?
Fury and Ngannou will face off on Saturday 28 October in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with undercard coverage starting at 6pm UK time.
The main event ring walks are expected to start at roughly 10.40pm.
Who’s on the undercard?
Another major clash is due to take place at the show, between Fabio Wardley (16-0) and David Adeleye (12-0) for the British heavyweight title. Former WBO heavyweight world champion Joseph Parker will also take on Canada’s Simon Kean.
The rest of the fights expected on the undercard are:
Arslanbek Makhmudov v Junior Anthony Wright; Heavyweight
Moses Itauma v Istvan Bernath; Heavyweight
Carlos Takam v Martin Bakole; Heavyweight
Jack McGann v Alcibiade Duran Galvan; Super welterweight
About the fighters
Anyone with even a marginal interest in the sport will be familiar with the self-proclaimed “Gypsy King”, Tyson Fury.
The six-foot-nine heavyweight, who has a record of 33-0-1 (24 KOs), briefly became unified heavyweight champion in 2015, when he toppled longstanding holder Wladimir Klitschko.
He was later stripped of two of those titles and vacated the three others during a period in which he suffered from mental health issues leading to alcoholism, recreational drug use and extreme weight gain.
But he went on to compete in one of the great ever boxing trilogies, against American Deontay Wilder, winning the WBC title back in the second of those bouts.
The 35-year-old more recently beat Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in front of record-breaking crowds in London.
Cameroonian-French Ngannou reached similar heights in his UFC career, knocking out one of the greatest heavyweights in UFC history, Stipe Miocic, in 2021 to become the UFC’s first-ever heavyweight champion from Africa.
The 37-year-old was stripped of the title after leaving the UFC in January, having failed to agree terms on a new contract.
He has not fought since he defeated Ciryl Gane by unanimous decision at UFC 270 in January 2022.
That win was Ngannou’s sixth in a row, adding to his record of 17-3-0.
While he will be dismissed by many as a boxing novice, the six-foot-four, 280-pound fighter is no stranger to the ring, having trained as a boxer for years before making it in MMA.
Heavyweight boxing icon Mike Tyson is training him up for the encounter.
Why the cross-over?
While Ngannou is far from a nobody, he certainly would not have been the first opponent fans thought of when Fury was looking for his next challenge after beating Dereck Chisora last December by technical knockout.
But the fight was sanctioned by the WBC after Fury’s efforts to make an undisputed championship fight with Oleksandr Usyk, the of the WBA, WBO and IBF titles, failed.
There was also speculation around fights with contenders such as Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz before he agreed to the cross-over bout with Ngannou.
While both boxers have insisted it is not the case, some have speculated the money they will receive has been the deciding factor – with claims Ngannou coud earn more than £8m and Fury reported picking up £39m.
Fury’s next fight did not exactly come from nowhere, though. Straight after knocking out Dillian Whyte in April 2022, he pulled Ngannou into a post-fight interview in the ring.
He promised an “explosive fight” with Ngannou, who was UFC champion at that point.
The MMA fighter was receptive to the idea, although he clearly had different plans for the nature of the fight.
“It’s going to be a hybrid fight with different type of rules – you know, MMA gloves… like a mix-up… something a little different,” Ngannou said in the ring, as Fury nodded in apparent agreement.
The “hybrid” pitch never panned out, and it was later confirmed that the fight would take place under the official rules of professional boxing.
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How to watch the coverage
TNT Sports will be showing the fight live on its pay-per-view service in the UK and Ireland.
Sky customers can purchase TNT Sports Box Office on channel 490 via their remote control or via www.sky.com/boxoffice/tnt-sports
Streaming service DAZN will be making the fight available on a pay-per-view basis in over 200 other countries.
What have Fury and Ngannou said?
Tyson Fury jokes about his weight during a face-off with Francis Ngannou. Pic: Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Fury has been quick to dismiss suggestions that he can take this fight lightly due to his opponent’s lack of experience in the boxing ring, claiming there’s “more riding on this than there ever has been before.”
In a press conference last month, he said: “I only trained six weeks for Deontay Wilder – I’m training 12 weeks for Francis. I need to be on my A-game, because there’s more on the line now than a boxing fight.
“If I lose to a number one contender or another champion, then people would say, ‘oh, he lost to another champion.’
“But if I lost to an MMA guy, I’m never going to be able to show my face in public again. There’s going to be ridicule and people are going to chuck it in my face forever.
“There’s more riding on this than there ever has been before.
“Whether the media wants to take it as a joke or not, make no mistake, Tyson Fury will leave no stone unturned and I will come in at my fittest and strongest I’ve ever been to beat this man.
“If I’m not, and I get knocked out, I want you all to laugh at me. That’s what I want, because I would’ve deserved it.
“The man’s a machine and I’ll give 100% respect.”
“I’m very excited and happy,” Ngannou said. “I had a dream as a kid to become a boxer, and now I’m going to box a guy at the peak of the mountain.
“For me, usually I would not pay attention to what’s going on around me, but this is so big that I can’t stop thinking about it.
“History is about to be made in Riyadh on October 28. It’s something that I didn’t see coming, although my dream was that someday it would happen.
“It’s not just going to be a fight, we’re opening up Riyadh Season, so it’s a cultural event that we’re fighting in.
“Nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen, but what I do know for sure is that I’m going to be out there hunting for this guy’s head to take it off, I guarantee you that.”
‘I’d like to fight Ngannou in the cage’
Fury has also backed himself to beat Ngannou at his own game, in a future MMA fight.
“I’d like to fight Ngannou in the cage; I think I’d beat him for sure,” he said.
“He’s not a good jiu-jitsu man, he’s not a good wrestler. He’s known for striking and I’m a better striker than him. I’d knock him out in seconds. He’s more of a stand-up striker.”
