When former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou enters the boxing ring next month, he will face lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
The fight marks Ngannou’s pro boxing debut, a moment that has been a long time coming. Understandably, Ngannou is a heavy underdog heading into the fight, but PFL analyst Dan Hardy spoke to MMANews to point out exactly how Francis Ngannou could shock the world and deliver a victory.
Francis Ngannou Has A Path To Victory Against Tyson Fury
“The thunderous nature of his punches is what’s going to make the difference.I think because of that, he can abandon a certain game plan. Firstly, I wouldn’t be telling him he’s going to out-box Tyson Fury, that’s a waste of energy and a waste of time.
So he doesn’t really need to worry about punch count necessarily, there’s not a concern ‘I’m getting outpointed’ because what it’s going to take is one punch to change the whole outlook of the fight.”
“Thunderous” is one way to describe it. Francis Ngannou is the current record holder for the world’s hardest punches. The towering Cameroonian’s rise through the UFC heavyweight division was spearheaded by his ridiculous punching power.
Ngannou successfully knocked out Stipe Miocic, arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time, to claim his UFC belt. Before that, he knocked out two-time heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
With such a powerful weapon available theoretically at any time, Dan Hardy argued that Ngannou’s best bet is to find a way to land just one devastating shot.
“Staying safe in the early rounds and trying to figure out what obstacles to get around. The jab is going to be a big problem, of course. The rear uppercut I expect is going to be really problematic as well.
He’s gotta find his feet, and not work too much and be over-excited. Anything he can get from Mike Tyson, bobbing and weaving, getting around the jab. The question is, does [Fury] get up if he gets knocked down?”
Tyson Fury has 33 wins in his pro boxing career. The sole blemish on his record is a draw against Deontay Wilder, in a fight that brought Fury out of retirement. In that fight, Wilder knocked Fury down, only for Fury to get up. Fury later won back-to-back fights against Wilder, both via knockout.
In Tyson Fury Francis Ngannou faces one of the toughest men on the planet. In Ngannou, Fury faces arguably the most lethal puncher on the planet. Which way the fight goes is anybody’s guess.
