Few are giving former UFC heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou much of a chance when he makes his professional boxing debut against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on October 28th.
Though Ngannou does appear to have serious natural power, he is expected to fall well behind WBC world champion Fury in just about every other metric when the pair clash next month.
That’s the view of former Ngannou opponent Junior Dos Santos, who was dispatched in just over a minute when the pair met back in 2019.
In a recent interview with Fight Hype, Dos Santos explained why he’s predicting a victory for “real boxer” Fury.
“Ngannou has a lot of power in his hands. With the bigger gloves, it’s going to be a little harder, but he does have a lot of serious power – that’s his main thing. His physical strength and his knockout power, anything is possible for somebody with those characteristics.
I don’t see him boxing technically, I see him throwing hands. I don’t see Ngannou as a boxer, everything that he does, he throws hands from everywhere. That’s a dangerous thing because you don’t know where punches will come from.
That can be good for him but, with longer rounds he can get a little tired as well. So I don’t see it as a good fight for Ngannou – apart from the money!
I see Tyson Fury doing what he does best. He’s a huge guy that moves very well – he’s a real boxer. I don’t see many chances for Ngannou to win this, but I’ll be watching.”
Fury takes on Ngannou on October 28th in Saudi Arabia live on ESPN+ PPV in the US and TNT Sports PPV in the UK.