WBC heavyweight titlist and Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou may finally have a deal in place.
Ariel Helwani reported today that a fight between the two is “expected to be announced very soon.”
Fury, 34, and Ngannou, 36, have publicly discussed the fight before, taking to the ring together in Apr. 2022 at Wembley Stadium, following Fury’s win over Dillian Whyte.
“I’m gonna find out who is the baddest motherfucker on the planet,” Ngannou said then.
“This is going to be one very special fight, like never before seen in the history of our sport. We’re not talking two light guys, 140 lbs,” Fury said, taking a quick swipe at the Mayweather vs McGregor fight that made massive PPV money in 2017. “I’m 270, he’s 270 lbs, it’s going to be an explosive fight when it happens.”
Fury (33-0-1, 24 KO) last fought in Dec. 2022, beating Derek Chisora in a trilogy fight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Ngannou (17-3 in MMA) last fought in Jan. 2022, winning a decision over Ciryl Gane in what wound up his final UFC fight, leaving the company as heavyweight champion.
Ngannou has explored options for the last year-and-a-half, ultimately signing with PFL this past May, though he hasn’t fought for the company yet. He has had discussions about various potential boxing forays, including talking with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom about a potential fight with Anthony Joshua.
Fury has spent recent months claiming that nobody wants to fight him, which included negotiations for an undisputed championship fight with Oleksandr Usyk falling through.
There’s no question that Fury vs Ngannou will be a major money fight. It won’t be Mayweather vs McGregor for many reasons — Fury and Ngannou aren’t stars the way those guys were in 2017, most notably, and being larger just won’t make up the gap between those guys and these guys in box office power — but it will be very, very big.
You’d expect Saudi Arabia or another Middle East host for this fight, because of how much money is going to have been demanded to make it happen, but the UK could be possible.
As for what the fight itself will be, that remains to be seen. Fury has suggested some sort of mixing of the rules, perhaps boxing with MMA gloves, and at this point in time with all the unsanctioned exhibition shows across the world, we could see any number of things.