Tyson Fury defeated Francis Ngannou via split decision on Saturday. There remained many questions that needed to be answered.
What happened?
Fury, who holds the WBC heavyweight title, had to get up from the canvas to defeat former UFC champion Ngannou via split decision.
Ngannou had his first professional boxing match, leveling Fury with a left hook, before making the rest of the 10-round bout highly competitive, ultimately winning in front of one of the judges but having to make a close decision over the other two. Cards.
Wait what?
Yes, a no-bout (in boxing terms) Fury, for most people the heavyweight par excellence in boxing today, seemed to give everything he could handle.
Ngannou arguably deserved to win it outright, while Fury was certainly expected to control and outdo the MMA star in a boxing match.
Instead, Ngannou nearly pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport.
Is Ngannou now the best boxer in the world?
Wait a minute, boxing can count Terence Crawford or Naoya Inoue among its most gifted fighters. This was also never a 12-round title fight, so Fury would always retain his WBC world championship.
But Ngannou had pretty much the best professional boxing debut we’ve ever seen. You can’t call it a case of beginner’s luck, because Ngannou is an elite martial artist who excelled in the UFC.
That Fury signed a deal to then box Oleksandr Usyk indicates he looked past Ngannou, a serious mistake, but we don’t know the extent to which Fury underperformed and Ngannou overachieved. We should see Ngannou more as a boxer, but he crashed at the highest level.
What does it mean for Tyson Fury?
Fury, the boxer, was meant to play Ngannou, the MMA fighter. That he didn’t, and that many high-profile observers from both sports felt Ngannou should have been given the decision, will be embarrassing for Fury.
Fury has a boxing legacy, beating Wladimir Klitschko and having a great trilogy of fights with Deontay Wilder. But that performance damaged his reputation.
Looking ahead, becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion and fighting British rival Anthony Joshua would help him secure a place in heavyweight history.
Will we get the undisputed championship fight between Fury and Usyk?
We’ll. Fury and Usyk have agreed to box each other for all four major heavyweight titles and they reconfirmed the fight will be next.
Before Ngannou threw a spanner in the works, they both watched that fight on December 23 of this year.
But after Fury imposed a penalty against Ngannou, that date could not be confirmed. Although Usyk’s team is pushing for December 23, Fury will have to estimate how long he will need to recover.
It’s safe to say this needs to happen, but we still don’t know when.
Shouldn’t Ngannou get a second chance?
If his performance against Fury on Saturday raises questions, a rematch should provide answers. But if Fury is involved in the Usyk fight, a rematch may not happen immediately anyway.
Ngannou is considering his next options and, after signing a deal with PFL, his next act could be a return to MMA.
A Fury rematch will be attractive for everyone involved, although it seems highly likely that both will have other fights first.
Will he fight other boxers?
Ngannou has said that his punching is genuine, that he is strong and that his boxing is underrated.
He has now made a name for himself in the boxing world and other lucrative fights will be offered to him. Anthony Joshua’s team have suggested AJ vs Ngannou, Deontay Wilder is said to be considering fighting Ngannou (although he wants to box Joshua first).
He may be 37 years old, but Ngannou has a future in boxing if he wants it.
Will we get more MMA vs. boxing fights?
These types of events are clearly money spinners. Floyd Mayweather versus Conor McGregor was not competitive, but controversial. This was competitive and can be used as an example to justify pitting a high-level UFC striker against a top-ranked boxer. So what’s next? Sean O’Malley vs. Gervonta Davis? Why not?
As for boxers going the other way, that happens too. Stars of women’s sports are doing it. Claressa Shields has fought in the PFL and undisputed super-middleweight champion Savannah Marshall is training in MMA to compete in that sport as well.
What does it mean for boxing?
Francis Ngannou did not destroy boxing. Boxing did that just fine on its own, thank you very much.
Whether it is the sport’s inability to match the best against the best time and time again; whether boxing’s battle is to effectively tackle performance-enhancing drug use; Whether it’s the clear and present danger of losing his place in the Olympics in the future – this list could go on – boxing has many serious and deep-seated problems, and Ngannou is not the worst of them all.
Boxing can, more often than you’d like, be a theater of the absurd. It can also be spectacular. Francis Ngannou’s impossible dream tantalizingly close to becoming a reality reminds us that boxing can be both at the same time.