The wild ride that boxing is currently on looks set to continue, as undefeated heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has just announced a next fight in Saudi Arabia on October 28, stepping into the ring against *checks notes, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
After a year spent trying to work out fights with Oleksander Usyk to unify the heavyweight division, and even a very public shout to Anthony Joshua, Fury has decided to try and unify another title instead, the one of baddest man on the planet. Which is handy, as it won’t go down on Fury’s official boxing record.
“As soon as that bell goes, it’ll be bombs away!” said Fury on the fight. “This guy is supposed to be the hardest puncher in the world, but let’s see how he reacts when he gets hit by the Big GK. I can’t wait to get back out there under the lights. I’m looking forward to showing the world that The Gypsy King is the greatest fighter of his generation in an epic battle with another master of his craft.”
Never one to shy away from a social media call out, Fury has already dropped the first punch, in a post aimed at Ngannou, simply saying, “Are you ready?”
To which Ngannou jabbed back with some low key lolz…
Unsurprisingly, the man who reigned for two years as the UFC heavyweight champ is equally skilled when it comes to pre-fight trash talk.
“I’ve been waiting to meet Tyson in the ring for the past three years. My dream was always to box, and to box the best.
“After becoming the undisputed MMA Heavyweight Champion, this is my opportunity to make that dream come true and cement my position as the baddest man on the planet. I’d like to thank Riyadh Season and my team at 3Point0 Labs for helping put this event together.
“All I will say to Tyson for now is he better dance in that ring because if I touch him, he’s going to sleep.”
While the fight is likely to draw a lot of criticism, it’s rare that a current world champion would enter into this type of exhibition fight—Rocky Balboa against Thunderlips in Rocky III the last we can remember—however it does represent yet another big name sporting coup for Saudi Arabia.
In recent months Saudi’s sport vision has gone into overdrive, with big investments in both golf and football. Boxing and UFC are something that has featured on the Saudi sporting calendar in recent years, with high profile and even world title fights taking place in the Kingdom.