Like Muhammad Ali once did
Fury celebrates a comeback for an unusual duel
07/11/2023, 8:15 p.m
Tyson Fury fights again. But this time it’s not about a world championship belt. And his opponent is not a boxer. For a special show fight against mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou, the retired pensioner returns to the rope square – probably because there is a lot of money to be made.
Almost half a century after US boxing icon Muhammad Ali’s dazzling duel with Japanese wrestling great Antonio Inoki, a reigning professional boxing world champion is once again stepping into the ring against a champion from a different fighting genre. The soon to be 35-year-old WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury returns almost two years after the last defense of his title for a presumably multi-million dollar exchange in Saudi Arabia against the Franco-Cameroonian mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou return.
According to Fury’s management, the show fight spectacle is to take place on October 28th exclusively according to the rules of professional boxing. Other elements of the full contact sport of MMA such as kicks, ring deposits or ground fighting are excluded.
Ngannou is rapidly rising into the world elite
Fury last fought a professional fight in early December 2022. In the world championship fight against his compatriot Dereck Chisora in London, the “Gipsy King” defended his world championship belt for the third time in a row with a technical knockout in the tenth round. Last March, negotiations about a fight between Fury and the Ukrainian Alexander Usyk to unify all four major world championship belts failed.
After getting into MMA, Ngannou made it into the world elite within just three years. On his way to being crowned Ultimate Heavyweight Fighting Champion, the 36-year-old earned a reputation as a feared knockout brawler.
Bizarrely silly tactic
47 years ago, Ali, then world champion of all classes, competed in a comparable show against Japan’s local wrestling star Inoki in Tokyo. The unequal duel in June 1976 in Tokyo between the then most popular protagonists of their branches was remembered above all because Inoki, with a bizarrely silly tactic, practically crawled on the floor for the entire duration of the fight and kicked Ali’s shins and “the greatest” in all 15 Rounds came only to six punches. Ali alone received six million dollars in prize money for the embarrassing farce.
Saudi Arabia is now showing increased ambitions in martial arts by hosting the fight between Fury and Ngannou. The kingdom, which has been criticized for human rights violations, has been trying to improve its image for some time through sports washing campaigns in football and golf.