If Francis Ngannou has any shot at all in his fast-approaching fight with Tyson Fury, it is if course of the punch variety – the lucky punch. We all know the former UFC heavyweight champ can crack……but will he be able to find the target against a Fury who is widely expected to be elusive, fleet of foot, and defensively sound? Most fans, experts, pundits, fellow fighters doubt it, with people feeling Ngannou will do well to land even a half-decent punch on Fury’s chin.
That said, Fury IS a most unpredictable guy, and he has suggested he may either stand and trade with Ngannou, or he may box and move and put on a clinic. Most of us feel the 35 year old will do the latter. But Bob Arum, co-promoter of Fury, has gone on record as saying he “hopes” Fury boxes smartly, that he “hopes Tyson is smart enough not to trade punches with this guy.”
Arum spoke with Queensbury Promotions, and the Top Rank boss recalled how fighters who had trained with Ngannou in Las Vegas reported back how “he has the most powerful punch that they’ve seen.” Again, there is no doubting Ngannou’s power, or his sheer physical strength, come to that…..but will the MMA star be able, to take a quote from the incomparable Muhammad Ali, ‘be able to find anything to hit?’
“That guy was training in my home city of Las Vegas,” Arum said of Ngannou. “and the word got back to me from everybody who was watching him that he was knocking guys down in the gym, and that he has the most powerful punch that they’ve seen. That being said, he doesn’t have the boxing experience that Tyson has. But I hope Tyson is smart enough, and I’m sure he is, not to stand toe-to-toe with this guy and trade punches.”
It would of course be nothing less than dumb for Fury to trade with Ngannou, thus giving the man who will be making his boxing debut his sole chance of winning. But if Fury has a, shall we say, ‘moment,’ and decides to roll the dice by slugging it out with Ngannou, we fans will be the winners…..those who buy the pay-per-view, that is (or illegally stream it!).
Fury is a showman and he therefore enjoys putting on a show. Sure, its a heck of a longer than long-shot that Fury will mix it with Ngannou, and the idea that he may do so was surely said by Fury for reasons of hype and the hope of pulling in more viewers on Saturday night. But with Fury, we never, ever know for sure.
It would be a whole lot of fun if Fury did engage in some toe-to-toe stuff with Ngannou, even for a round. And how much would Ngannou feel his luck was in if this did happen!