Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou: Early Head-to-Toe Breakdown

No, really. It's a thing. Honest.

Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou are going to meet, competitively, on October 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It'll be a boxing match. It'll be in a boxing ring. It'll follow standard boxing rules.

Some details like how many rounds it's scheduled for, whether it'll be an official bout or an exhibition, and whether Fury's WBC title belt will be at stake are yet to be determined.

But the heights now attained by the novelty arm of combat sports are certainly not.

"I can't wait to get back out there under the lights," Fury said.

"I'm looking forward to showing the world that The Gypsy King is the greatest fighter of his generation in an epic battle with another master of his craft."

The official announcement came 15 months after Fury and Ngannou publicly teased the prospect of a matchup in the ring following the boxer's title defense over Dillian Whyte.

Ngannou said then that the get-together would cement its winner as "the baddest mother f--ker on the planet," and Fury echoed the sentiment, saying "We're not talking two light guys, 140 pounds. I'm 270; he's 270. It's going to be an explosive fight when it happens."

Needless to say, the confirmation sent the B/R combat team in immediate motion for a head-to-toe breakdown of the combatants and how things are likely to look come the fall.

Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the comments.

What: Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou

Where: Site TBA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

When: October 28

TV: TBA

What's at Stake: Global combat domination. Intergalactic heavyweight supremacy.

Who really knows anymore, right?

But really, determining what's at stake between Fury and Ngannou depends on how seriously you take it. Perhaps Fury's share of the heavyweight title will be on the line in a 12-round fight. Perhaps it'll just be a four-, six- or eight-round exhibition.

Regardless, simply by getting the world's most decorated heavyweight boxer and its most widely recognized MMA heavyweight champion together, the non-traditional needle has moved to places considered unreachable as recently as a year or two ago.

Ngannou has been looking for a chance to box for a while and it's among the reasons the chasm between him and UFC czar Dana White grew wide enough for the promotion to release him and vacate his heavyweight title. He's since signed with the lesser-known Professional Fighters League and said he plans to do both sports going forward.

Nickname: The Gypsy King

Record: 33-0-1, 24 KOs

Height: 6'9"

Weight: 268.75 pounds*

Reach: 85"

Age: 34 (35 on fight night)

Stance: Orthodox

Rounds: 220

All stats courtesy of BoxRec.

*Official weight at last fight in December 2022.

Nickname: The Predator

Record: 17-3, 12 KOs (MMA)

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 257 pounds*

Reach: 83"

Age: 36 (37 on fight night)

Stance: Orthodox

Rounds: 35 (MMA)

All stats courtesy of UFC Stats.

*Official weight at last fight in January 2022.

Simply put, Tyson Fury presents a lot of challenges in a boxing ring.

At 6'9" with an 85-inch reach, he could elect to stay on the outside behind a jab and make it nearly impossible for foes to get close to him with anything resembling damaging blows while landing impactful power shots of his own in combination.

But he's a fighter, too. And in the instances where he wants to show that side of his personality—in his second bout with Deontay Wilder, for example—he weaponizes his size, marching forward and battering foes into submission on the front foot.

Analyzing Ngannou's "boxing" skills is difficult because MMA is such a different animal, but, while he does fight from a traditional right-handed stance, he does work effectively with the left hand, particularly with uppercuts. He switches stances from time to time during stand-up sequences and frequently punches in combination rather than relying on single shots.

He fights aggressively and closes distance well while staying busy with punches.

Still, the reality is inarguable.

When matched with his smoothest boxing UFC foe in Ciryl Gane, Ngannou was competitively neutralized through two rounds on his feet before getting the fight to the ground with four takedowns and spending nearly eight of the final 15 minutes in top control.

That's not an option here. So when it comes to comparing boxing chops, he's a nonentity.

Advantage: Fury

Ask fans. Ask trainers. Heck, ask Fury and Ngannou themselves.

There's an excellent chance all will tell you that the only chance Ngannou has to adequately compete in, let alone win a boxing match with Fury is to land his best punch.

His left uppercut KO of Alistair Overeem at UFC 218 remains the stuff of YouTube legend even six years later, and Dana White himself celebrated Ngannou's menace leading into Ngannou's first of two bouts with Stipe Miocic in 2018.

"His punches are equivalent to 96 horsepower," White said. "That's equal to getting hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can and it's more powerful than a 12-pound sledgehammer from full-force overhead. Holy s---."

Fury has been knocked down six times with 10-ounce boxing gloves, much larger than the four-ouncers Ngannou has worn in MMA, but he's always gotten up. Most recently, he was dropped twice each in two of three bouts with Deontay Wilder, rising twice to salvage a draw in their first meeting in 2018 and twice more before KO'ing Wilder in Round 11 in 2021.

Wilder, who's KO'd every foe other than Fury, stands 6'7" and weighed 238 pounds in their third fight. Whether Ngannou's power carries over into larger gloves, and, more importantly, whether he can land his damaging blows, will determine his competitive fate.

Advantage: Ngannou

Though his most memorable highlight is probably the zombie-like rise from the floor after taking a Wilder combination in their first fight, Fury does employ some effective defense.

He not only uses his dimensions to his advantage, but he has exceptional footwork for a man of his size and both rolls with and ducks under punches. He avoided most of Wilder's attempts at fight-ending blows and often left the Olympic medalist looking amateurish as he swung wildly and grew increasingly more desperate to land.

And once those openings for counters are provided, Fury doesn't typically miss.

Put it all together and it's a tall mountain to climb for Ngannou, who was hit with 59 percent of overall strike attempts in the UFC, including nearly a 74-percent clip for Gane in their fight.

All three of his career MMA losses came by decision, so while Ngannou may get hit a fair bit, he's shown an ability to withstand the damage while continuing to deliver his own. Whether that's an ideal strategy with which to approach a foe like Fury, though, seems doubtful.

Advantage: Fury

Ngannou's X-Factor: All Kidding Aside, Can He Even Box?

He's a physical phenomenon.

At 6'4" and somewhere near 260 pounds, Ngannou possesses a powerfully muscular frame that's up there with the best of the WWE or the NFL. And considering he's stopped 12 of 17 foes, all professional MMA fighters, inside of two full rounds, he's not to be trifled with.

But until this event is retooled as a pose-down or a Power Slap, he's out of his element.

Fury has handled foes Ngannou's size and larger with relative ease in the ring, and without the threat of being taken to the floor like Gane was, it's about impossible to believe he's got anything serious to worry about unless he's struck with the perfect blow.

So, unless he's willing to ham things up for spectacle's sake, it's probably not pretty.

Fury's X-Factor: He Has Everything, Literally Everything, To Lose

Forget the odds, which will presumably lean way in Fury's favor when the DraftKings lines are made official, and simply ponder your reaction if the Briton were to be KO'd.

Remember, he's a two-time champ who's never lost as a pro, avenged a draw with two KO wins, and has beaten men with more ring chops than Ngannou will ever possess.

So assuming this thing is more legit competition than pre-scripted WWE nonsense, an actual Fury loss would mean the laughter from the "boxing is dead" crowd would be deafening and the scars incurred by the ring's reigning heavyweight king might be permanent.

Though some would dismiss it as a fluke or rationalize by suggesting Fury didn't take it seriously, it'd be hard to come up with anything that'd override the casual fan's image of the era's best big man losing to a guy in his first fight.

But don't worry, Tyson. No pressure.