Ngannou is an MMA fighter, he isn't a boxer. This is a celebrity match up designed to make money for both parties.
The RedCafe Boxing Thread
- Thread starter CLK_FPC
- Start date
I understand where you're coming from but like it or not. AJ vs Ngannou is a commissioned fight. Ngannou is ranked #10 by the WBC. Its a boxing match.
Crooks. They'll commission a Donkey v.s. a Pig and call it boxing if they could make a few bob.
What you're seeing is a match up of a boxer who has legitimately come through the ranks to become a top level fighter v.s. a celebrity from MMA, that's what it is. You can't microwave shit and call it gravy.
Well he outboxed the heavyweight champion of the world last time he fought. It's hardly like they've just put some youtuber up there.
Do you really think Tyson took that seriously?
He did once he got hit. Obviously Ngannou isn't the best boxer in the world but I think it's disrespectful not to call him a boxer. He showed enough in that fight to have earned basic respect.
Ngannou is of course a great champion in MMA, you'd be stupid to say otherwise. In the sport of boxing however he is a nobody. The only reason he got a match up v.s. Tyson is because of money.
Will it be boxing once Ngannou has knocked him out?
Correct. But the reason he is now respected as a boxer is because of how he did in that fight. You might not like them ranking him because of it but I didn't like them giving the fight to Fury.
I don't like any of it and it's a consequence of the governance of boxing, it's shambolic how it is run for a long time now. Boxing could learn a thing or two from MMA, actually.
MMA isn't entirely based on merit either though. McGregor will walk back in juiced up and get beaten up by someone who isn't always pissed, and he'll do it because people will pay to see it.
Maybe so but the fight cards are many times more entertaining and competitive. The belts are there for anyone to come in and challenge. In boxing ducking is very easy and there is a major problem with decisions.
Entirely agree. I think Ngannou has showed he isn't some pushover though and I don't think he deserves to be either ducked or to have people accuse his opponent of ducking a "real fighter" to face him. It's a money making fight but it will also be a good test of where Joshua is really at after his wilderness years.
Fury never took him seriously even remotely and made Ngannou look semi decent but not too much as he should have won really against a pathetic Fury
I imagine AJ and his team cannot believe their luck for this as so long as he does the work this is an easy fight for him.
With both Wilder and Fury shooting themselves in the foot by thinking they just had to show up it was a great night for AJ.
At the end of the day AJ does what he has to do Wilder and Fury only have themselves to blame
Odd to pick on this one in particular as being PPV - end of the day you're never going to get an AJ fight that isn't (unless it's very exceptional circumstances like the Helenius fight) and Ngannou is a megastar in combat sport as well. How do you think they're paying for this otherwise? Either it's PPV or we don't see it happen period so it's a strange hill to die on. Parker-Zhang is a very good fight as well and Nick Ball v Rey Vargas is an absolute cracker.
Excuses or not Francis pushed the lineal HW champion all the way, knocked him down and in a lot of peoples eyes (not mine personally) won the fight in his first foray into boxing which gives this fight credibility.
Of course AJ should be the favourite but stylistically I think Ngannou should actually match-up better. Albeit a different combat sport (and he had a dodgy knee at the time) but we saw him struggle with a slick striker on the backfoot before in Ciryl Gane and I think most expected Fury to fight the same type of fight and dominate. AJ is a more classic boxer-puncher that'll set his feet and hang around in the pocket a little more, he's been hit before and he's been hurt, dropped and finished so there's definitely danger.
Excuses or not Francis pushed the lineal HW champion all the way, knocked him down and in a lot of peoples eyes (not mine personally) won the fight in his first foray into boxing which gives this fight credibility.
Of course AJ should be the favourite but stylistically I think Ngannou should actually match-up better. Albeit a different combat sport (and he had a dodgy knee at the time) but we saw him struggle with a slick striker on the backfoot before in Ciryl Gane and I think most expected Fury to fight the same type of fight and dominate. AJ is a more classic boxer-puncher that'll set his feet and hang around in the pocket a little more, he's been hit before and he's been hurt, dropped and finished so there's definitely danger.
No true Boxing fan that I know respects Ngannou as a boxer
he’s 0-1 yet top 10 in the world rankings and having a second opportunity for a big name fight against AJ making £20 million plus in this match up when other boxers in the top 15 haven’t had nearly as much opportunity as this nobody boxer Ngannou with one fight one loss under his belt
it sounds like I’m hating on Ngannou, I respect his achievements in MMA and out of sport in truth, I even think he beat Fury in an exhibition match where one fighter took it seriously (Ngannou)
But boxing authorities allowing this Ngannou show too play out is an utter disgrace and embarrassment on the sport and disrespect too all the other fighters in the division who have come up through the proper ranks of being a Boxer
And what will you say if he beats Joshua?
All the "Fury didn't take it seriously" talk is an assumption. He probably didn't but we don't know and so that has no bearing. What we do know is that a boxing "nobody" came and gave Fury (the guy a lot of people claim is the best Heavyweight of his generation) a tougher night than Wilder or Whyte gave him, knocking him down, and actually beating him if we're honest. Yes, it's a loss on paper, but based on that performance, he deserves respect.
That said, I think like with the case of Wallin, Joshua wins
Zhang-Parker is a tough one to call. A real 50-50 fight.
People are mentioning the southpaw aspect but I reckon Parker will eventually tire Zhang out and stay out of exchanges until the later rounds. There are a few question marks over Zhang's endurance and Parker tends to come on strong in the later rounds (discounting the Joyce fight).
I know Zhang beat Joyce who beat Parker etc but I always felt Zhang just had Joyce's number. Parker won't be nearly as static as Joyce was. He's always had fast hands but his movement has improved massively under Andy Lee and that will frustrate Zhang.
People are mentioning the southpaw aspect but I reckon Parker will eventually tire Zhang out and stay out of exchanges until the later rounds. There are a few question marks over Zhang's endurance and Parker tends to come on strong in the later rounds (discounting the Joyce fight).
I know Zhang beat Joyce who beat Parker etc but I always felt Zhang just had Joyce's number. Parker won't be nearly as static as Joyce was. He's always had fast hands but his movement has improved massively under Andy Lee and that will frustrate Zhang.
Last edited:
MMA fighters converting to boxing will always be looked down on massively after McGregor was toyed with by Mayweather. The reality is though at the lighter weights the skills gap is too big. Up at heavyweight it’s not quite as big a deal due to the capacity of Francis to end anyone with one shot.
Plus, and I haven’t watched it back to confirm, but as I remember his boxing was actually pretty good or at least a hell of a lot better than expected. I think he’s fully earned this match, like you say, he caused Fury infinitely more problems than Wilder who was a heavyweight champ for years
I think it's safe to say Devon Haney vs Ryan Garcia won't be going ahead. From the state of Ryan's recent social media posts, it seems like he's on the verge of being sectioned. Poor kid.
Yeah it's been very strange. Did you listen to the call with Andrew Tate?
Hopefully someone steps up to the mantle who will actually challenge Haney. Shakur or Gervonta Davis.
Ryan Garcia is overhyped but he'd have been a decent test for Haney.
He seems very unwell. Boxing probably not the biggest concern at the moment.
Yeah, I listened to his conversation with Tate. So bizarre.
Haney's trying to claim it's all a publicity stunt to sell the fight, which seems like wishful thinking.
Apart from Tank and Shakur, who I dont see moving up anytime this year, I think Teofimo is another good fight for Haney, and is probably his next biggest payday at 140 once the Garcia fight is inevitably cancelled.
Definitely. You can only hope that he's got some people around him who can help him through it.
Haney just needs to suck it up and go to 147 and fight Crawford. I know they're pretty friendly but it's really the only money fight either have on the table at moment. Devin isn't getting Tank or Teofimo at 140 anytime soon.
I can say nothing other than wow
my criticism is how the bloke got this opportunity in the first place
I know he’s a monster in MMA
But should the cross over become the norm?
Is that what boxing fans want?
I can see the intrigue, But professionally is a disgrace
I see the issues at stake but Francis crossing over is great for boxing simply because he's box office. Not only that, but he has done it in the right way, training his ass off, and just being the great personality he is. He showed in the Fury fight that he can box and that he can legitimately challenge for belts. Obviously, if it became a trend then it would then need to be dealt with by the powers that be, but one boxer shaking up one division is fine as long as it is limited ones and twos. Due to the popularity of MMA and the difficulties in making the switch, I very much doubt it will be any more than the odd fighter.
The problem, as it has been for a while, is Fury stalling the entire division an not making fights that need to be made.
Last edited:
Let’s be honest, Fury was supposed to put the clumsy, poor MMA guy in his place and show the naturally assumed gulf in class between a top class boxer who other heavyweights can barely get their hands on, and a run of the mill powerhouse who’d shown nothing to suggest he could really box. N’Gannou jumped on his opportunity and effectively legitimised himself, as we already know most heavyweights wouldn’t be able to do that to Fury. If he goes in there and wins or even performs very well against Joshua, there’s only Usyk left claimed as the big dogs of the division, or at least, he’s then firmly wedged as a serious contender alongside Zhang and Parker.
I don’t think it’ll be the norm, no. N’Gannou has that special presence and aura that people tune in to see (and he really backed that), which nobody else has in MMA - except Pereira - to be able to make the waves in crossover competition. It’s not only the fans, but business people and legitimate top quality boxers entertaining this; you’re not getting that trifecta with anyone else, even McGregor didn’t have that (Floyd just saw a very easy payday with zero risk).
Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson in July??
The feck??
The feck??
And yet it will probably sell out well.
John Fury fights the winner 
All I hope for is Mike to forget it's an exhibition once he is in his natural habitat and to go into kill mode.
WTF is Tyson doing, even a hint of that nobody hurting him his legacy is gone, FFS the YouTube muppet should not even land a punch
He's almost 60. If he gets knocked out or beaten by Paul who has knocked out MMA fighters it's not that bad for him.
The only person this looks bad on is Paul.
Put that way them yeah I suppose your right, but FFS this is just boxing dragged further in to the gutter, just need the Fury’s in on it, to complete the circus show
Hope Tyson knocks his head off tbf.
I fancy Zhang to be honest. Parker is hittable and he's a much more technical and calculated puncher than Wilder.
Parker fought a brilliant fight last time out but much easier to close the distance on Windmill Wilder and bully him instead, Zhang will be delivering left hand bombs right down the pipe and he's a big man to try and fight with in the clinch if it comes to that.
We'll see but I really think Zhang is a big problem in this division and a dark horse to upset one of the big guns if he gets the opportunity.
Do we reckon Francis has to win by knockout? No way he’ll be allowed it on the cards?