In August 2017, Floyd Mayweather stopped Conor McGregor in a massively hyped boxer versus MMA duel that became a pay-per-view bonanza. Now, six years later, the cross-over matchup returns, this time at heavyweight, when WBC champ Tyson Fury takes on former UFC champ Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 28.
Fury has competed in the squared circle since 2008. The enigmatic Englishman has won everything there is to win in boxing and has had two reigns as world champion. Meanwhile, Ngannou has next to no boxing experience although he trained in the sport as a child. Transitioning to MMA, Ngannou has incorporated boxing into his career, winning 12 fights via knockout.
Will Ngannou’s skills transfer over effectively into boxing? The odds and history are against him, as crossover fights rarely favor the visitor. The one advantage Ngannou will have is that he possesses devastating punching power.
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Mayweather vs. McGregor was the most lucrative crossover matchup but it wasn't the first. As heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali fought pro wrestling legend Antonio Inoki in an exhibition in 1976, which is considered a precursor to MMA. Mayweather also fought The Big Show at WrestleMania, while Ray Mercer stepped into the cage and beat Tim Sylvia.
However, one of the most prominent fights featuring a world-class boxer and MMA fighter was Randy Couture vs. James Toney in 2010.
Toney was a former IBF middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight champion when he took on former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 118. The boxer was forced to submit in the very first round.
“It was interesting fighting James Toney. How much MMA was James going to be able to learn in four months going into that fight? And then he answered that question fairly quickly in about a little over a minute. Wasn’t much,” Couture told The Sporting News in an exclusive.
“He didn’t learn how to use his legs, didn’t know what the guard was, and didn’t know how to be on his back. He had to have known I wasn’t going to play around with him and test his boxing skills… I told him from day one, ‘No, I’m not going to box you.' I have no illusions about my ability as a boxer. I learned and became proficient in boxing to be able to make people have to wrestle. That was my sole goal. I wasn’t trying to change sports, to leap into boxing, certainly not at the highest level James did when he leaped into MMA.
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“[Ngannnou] is a mixed martial artist, but he did have that boxing and kickboxing background before he made his way into MMA. So has some base, some skillset there. We know he has the athleticism and the power, but is he going to be able to catch up with a guy like Tyson Fury, who has literally been boxing since he was a small boy? I say no. I think he’s got to be unorthodox and do things that mixed martial artists do in boxing to throw Tyson Fury off; switch leads, throw from the other side, switch back, and throw off of that. That’s going to confuse a boxer who is used to seeing things by the number come at them from a very particular place. The more unorthodox I think we get Francis to be, the more chance he has to use that athleticism and horsepower he has and get him a shot at winning that fight.”
The fight between Couture and Toney generated some buzz, most of which was negative. Toney claimed to The Sporting News that Couture was supposed to enter a boxing ring after, but that never came to fruition. Recently, MMA fighter Dillon Danis and influencer Logan Paul fought in the ring and discussed another fight in the cage. Two-way fights rarely happen and are more of a tease than anything. Fury has also said that he would consider fighting Ngannou in the cage after their clash.
Crossover bouts are either praised or scoffed at. Toney believes that the concept brings more value and money to boxing. He believes in Ngannou’s skills but uses his own experience to pick the boxer as the winner of the boxing fight.
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“Francis Ngannou is coming into boxing and he has a chance,” Toney told SN. "But Tyson is a great boxer and a good puncher. Nobody has ever seen Ngannou in the ring. We don’t know if he could take a real punch from a real fighter. MMA punches are different; In boxing, we turn our punches over. MMA is kind of a slap. It should be a good fight, but who knows... I think Tyson Fury wins by stoppage.”
Can Ngannou pull off a miracle? If he did, then it would be the biggest upset in heavyweight history.
