Francis Ngannou shocks world with performance.

It was marketed as “The Battle of the Baddest”, with the Boxing Heavyweight Champ Tyson Fury taking on the former MMA UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in a boxing match in front of a star-studded audience that included Cristiano Ronaldo, Kanye West, Conor McGregor, and a plethora of legends from boxing and MMA. Fury was understandably a massive favorite in the boxing bout at 14-1 odds, and Ngannou was essentially written off as only having a puncher’s chance against the Gypsy King. After a spectacle of an “opening ceremony” to present Saudi Arabia to the world, the ring rose from underground and the titans collided. Quickly it became apparent that Fury was going to have to take Ngannou seriously, and when Ngannou caught Fury with a left hook that scored the first and only knockdown of the night in Round 3, the tone immediately shifted in the arena and in the broadcast booth, almost in shock of what they were watching. We proceeded to see Ngannou, in his first professional boxing bout, go toe to toe with the heavy weight champ of the world, taking it the distance of the full 10 rounds. The judges were split, with the third judge giving the edge to Fury 95-94 to keep the Gypsy King undefeated. While Fury may have won on the scorecards, it was evident that Ngannou won the night, with many in and out of the arena feeling he actually won the fight, and putting on a performance that may have a monumental impact on combat sports going forward. Boxing has been king of the combat sports world for years, but MMA has taken the industry by storm, with the UFC being the most profitable combat sports promotion in the world. Ngannou putting on the performance he did in his first boxing bout against the very best, and then an integrity questioning result might just be the final nail in the coffin for the current state of boxing. The sport has many questions to ask of itself going forward if it want’s to keep up with the trajectory of MMA, which now is the sport that can claim has “the baddest man in the planet”. “The sweet science” of boxing has been a spectacle for humans for hundreds of years, but Ngannou was able to break down the science and almost come out victorious with just a sixmonth training camp (training with Mike Tyson nonetheless), what does that mean for the sport of boxing? Regardless of your answer, Ngannou is now signed with the PFL (Professional Fighting League), and claims he wants to do the unprecedented and participate in MMA and Boxing going forward, with his performance opening up the discussion of more boxing matches against the top heavyweights, but he is also obligated to step into the Octagon again for the PFL. If anyone can do it, it’s Francis Ngannou, whose life story has become defined by overcoming the odds, from the salt mines in Cameroon, to homeless in the streets of Paris, to UFC Heavyweight Champion and “the baddest man on the planet”