For any athlete transitioning from one sport to another can be a very difficult task. But for Francis Ngannou’s first professional boxing match-up against the world heavyweight Tyson Fury he certainly had an amazing first showing. The match was held in on October 28, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Before Francis Ngannou became a star in the world of Mixed Martial Arts he had originally wanted to be a boxer. You could see his boxing influence in his style because instead of his renowned punching power. And after 20 MMA matches and becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion, he believed it was his time to return to what he originally loved. Due to Ngannou’s already established pay-per-view drawing power it wasn’t too difficult to have his first match be against the WBC heavyweight champion himself Tyson Fury. The match had much anticipation behind it similar to the Conor Mcgregor vs Floyd Mayweather bout of 2017 and stars from all over the world from Eminem to The Undertaker came out to show their support live for the event.

            The match began at 2:00 P.M EST and 10:00 PM in Saudi Arabia. Fury weighed in at 277 lb while Ngannou came in at 272 lb, a match truly worthy of the name heavyweight. It was a non-title match set to run 10 rounds. Round 1 began with both fighters setting the pace for the fight. Both take southpaw stances but Fury has the superior reach, yet Ngannou’s power is still a force to be reckoned with, and both get solid hits in. Round 2 and Fury starts going more towards the right side, he knows that Ngannou is naturally right-handed and that is where most of his power lies. But Ngannou shows that he can switch his stance to orthodox attesting to his fighting expertise. He manages to draw blood with a left to close out near the end of the round. Round 3, Ngannou scores a knockdown large left hook at the 43-second mark of the round. The crowd erupts in cheers as Fury takes the standing 8 count, the momentum shifts towards his favor. Round 4 Fury is able to reset the pace with his 6 foot 9 inch frame. As per usual in his matches Fury always has the height and reach advantage, he’s able to regain control. Round 5 Ngannou throws out a vicious combination that has the entire stadium OOO in unison, but Fury manages to dodge the almost certain knockout blows. Fury wears his opponent down with clinches and his long-range punches scoring solid one-two blows and jabs.

  Round 6 Fury’s jabs become more and more accurate and his clinches are more aggressive. He slows the pace exactly to where he wants it. He’s already been downed and that can get the opponent excited and act sloppy and leave them open. But with Ngannou’s fighting instincts he doesn’t let it get to him even after taking an elbow. Round 7 Fury slips but it doesn’t slow him down, the round goes by quickly. Round 8 Ngannou applies more heat, he lets loose several of his explosive blows leaving Fury weary. Both manage to draw blood from each other but still push on towards the last rounds. Round 9 Fury manages to out-box Ngannou, both men are tired but they can’t slow down yet. Final round Ngannou throws a Superman punch (a punch where you kick off the canvas towards the opponent) but misses the mark, the commentary even made a reference to Roman Reigns. He wanted to leave an impression just for fun but I believe the impression has already been made. He scores two more left jabs and the match comes to a close.

            The match came down to a judge’s decision. When it comes to scoring in boxing, each match is scored 10 points per round and since this went for 10 rounds it was out of 100.  Alan Krebs scored it 95-94 in favor of Fury. Juan Carlos Peylao scored 96-93 in favor of Fury as well. And Ed Garner however scored it 95-94 in favor of Ngannou, thus Tyson Fury was declared the winner. In the weeks following the match there has been a bit of controversy about who should have won. In Ali and Frazier there was only one down and that decided the match, so how did Fury who did get downed still win? It’s unknown but as an observer and fan, I would say if anything, it should have been a draw or at most Ngannou should have gotten the win. Both fighters did exceptionally well in perhaps one of the best matches of the year.  Francis Ngannou plans to continue boxing and is already excited to face more top contenders in the division. As for the heavyweight champion Tyson Fury his next match will be on February 17, 2024. This match was an excellent example of a fighter from MMA transitioning to boxing.