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The crossover boxing match between lineal MMA heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou vs. lineal heavyweight boxing champ Tyson Fury left many fans in shock when Ngannou lost a narrow split decision after scoring the only knockdown of the bout.
Ngannou’s trainer Mike Tyson was super impressed.
“I was really proud of Francis Ngannou because he listened to everything I said,” Tyson explained. “And I was telling everybody about the great left hook that he landed on his sparring partner and actually broke his leg, and I knew if he landed that left hook on anybody they were gone – and I was right. The champ went down. I’m happy. I’m very grateful to be involved with his glory, his victory. I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of Mr. Francis.”
Francis Ngannou get #10 WBC ranking
The BoxRec algorithm may have ranked Ngannou at 585 among their near 1,500 recorded active heavyweights, but the WBC came up with a ranking that more closely approximates Ngannou’s performance.
“Francis Ngannou did an outstanding job against the WBC Heavyweight Champion and the WBC Board of Governors has agreed to rank him as No. 10 in the Heavyweight division,” the governing body announced in a post on social media.
Francis Ngannou wants Tyson Fury rematch
Francis Ngannou has a lot of options after his stunning performance in October.
“The rematch is what I want next the most,” he said in a recent interview. “Because, as for right now I feel like there is a lot of options for me, but I want to choose wisely—and I would go for the rematch first.
“Going into the first one, there was a lot of questions, a lot of uncertainty for boxing… Even going into the training camp there was a lot of unknown. But I think this fight—from the beginning of the camp up, leading up to the fight—I think that was a lot of experience that will definitely help me a lot for the second fight.”
The PFL has its work cut out to find Ngannou an opponent for his MMA return.
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