Though he didn’t get the win over Tyson Fury plenty of people feel he deserved on Saturday night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Francis Ngannou is still a huge winner all the same. That split decision defeat, in his PRO DEBUT in the Noble Art, did absolutely nothing to hurt Ngannou’s popularity, his selling power, his respect and his earning power. In short, Ngannou shocked the world by doing what he did to the self-proclaimed greatest heavyweight ever.
The big question now, while we wait and see what Fury does next (and there is already some serious talk that the 35 year old WBC heavyweight champ may retire, for keeps this time) is, what next for Ngannou? I don’t know about you, but I’d love to see how the 37 year old giant would get on with other elite heavyweight boxers. Ngannou showed a whole lot in the Fury fight, and he proved to us all that he can indeed box.
Nobody saw it coming, the way Ngannou, expected to be clumsy, raw, wild with his swings and out of gas after two or three rounds, instead showed patience, an ability to set up attacks, relatively fast hands, decent balance, and a good engine. Yes, Fury may well have miscalculated big-time, and he may have so underestimated and looked past Ngannou to the extent that he barely trained a lick. But we cannot blame Ngannou for that, nor can we take anything away from the Nigerian who grew up with absolutely nothing.
What Ngannou has now is the world at his feet.
But should Ngannou stick around in boxing and try his newly revealed skills against another big-name heavyweight? Or should Ngannou go back to breaking heads in MMA? Let’s just say this – Ngannou, 0-1 as a boxer, but the most successful 0-1 boxer you could possible name, has options. Plenty of them.
Again, speaking personally, I’d like to see Ngannou keep the gloves on, and fight another big name boxer or two.
Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to see the following:
Ngannou Vs. Anthony Joshua.
This would be ultra-intriguing. Would Ngannou be able to hit and hurt and drop AJ the way he did Fury? Would Ngannou be able to take Joshua’s best shots? How would Joshua handle Ngannou’s sheer physical strength? How many P-P-V buys would this fight pull in? Would this fight sell out Wembley?
Ngannou Vs. Deontay Wilder.
The heart quickens at the very thought of this fight! Wilder is arguably easier to hit than Fury, therefore one would think Ngannou would land something big on Wilder’s chin at some stage in the fight. What would happen at this point would prove fascinating. Then again, what would happen if the lethal-punching Wilder detonated a bomb on Ngannou’s chin? I think a whole lot of fight fans would pay a pretty penny to find out. This one included.
Ngannou Vs. Tyson Fury II.
Did Fury have an off-night? Did Fury, against Ngannou, make the so often repeated but seldom learned from mistake of looking past his opponent? If he does fight on, and again, who knows if Fury will, he surely owes both Ngannou and himself a rematch. Would Fury be able to put it right and get the dominant win this time, you know, the one 99-precent of the planet’s population felt he would get on Saturday? Or would Ngannou give Fury sheer hell a second time?
