Whatever happens in Fury-Ngannou it's sure to be a spectacle
Boxing champion and former UFC champion square off Saturday
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Whatever it actually is, lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will tangle in a spectacle that is intriguing to many.
Fury and Ngannou, both very big men, will meet in a scheduled 10-round boxing match on Saturday at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The fight is on ESPN+PPV in the U.S. (2 p.m. ET, $79.99), TNT Sports in U.K. and Ireland, and DAZN or DAZN PPV around the rest of the world. The main event ring walks are slated for approximately 5:50 p.m. ET, according to organizers.
Promoters Top Rank and Queensberry, as well as officials from Riyadh Season, the annual Saudi festival bankrolling the event, have declined to say whether Fury-Ngannou is an official boxing match that will count on the fighters’ records or an exhibition. Nonetheless, the Kingdom has rolled out the red carpet and flown in dozens of former boxing and MMA world champions and VIPs for a fight for which Ngannou will cross over from MMA to fulfill his longtime dream to box.
“Where do I start? I think this is a manifestation, a dream come true,” Ngannou said this week. “I remember four years ago when I met Mike Tyson, my only request was when I fight Tyson Fury will you be in my corner? People thought I was losing it; I was crazy; it would never happen. Here we are and the fight is happening, so I am very excited.”
And Mike Tyson, who Tyson Fury is named after, will indeed be in Ngannou’s corner as one of his trainers.
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