Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou preview: Fury to evade Ngannou’s power

With boxing fans calling for heavyweight unification fights, Tyson Fury takes a different route on Saturday night as he faces off against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

With no belts on the line Fury has nothing to lose and Ngannou has everything to gain. Anything can happen in boxing and we take you through how we see the fight playing out in Saudi Arabia.

We preview the fight below.

Check out all the latest Boxing odds with William Hill

Fury to keep his distance and outbox Ngannou

It comes as no surprise that the WBC heavyweight champion of the world is the clear favourite for this fight at 1/14. Fury is in many people’s eyes the best boxer on the planet and a fight against someone who isn’t even a boxer appears to be a formality for the Mancunian.

With a professional boxing record of 33-0-1, the only blot on that record came in a draw against Deontay Wilder. One of the most famous fights in boxing history, this draw is actually one of the best points in Fury’s career rather than a low-point given that he would go on to fight Wilder twice more, winning both times.

Wilder is the most similar in style to Ngannou of anyone that Fury has fought before and ‘The Gypsy King’ has shown that he knows how to deal with the hardest punchers. He put in two brilliant boxing performances against Wilder, winning the first by TKO in round seven, and the second by KO in round 11. With these results in mind, Fury is just 2/9 to win by KO, TKO or DQ.

Fury will likely try to grind down Ngannou. He knows he is the better boxer and just has to keep out of the way of any haymakers which Ngannou will undoubtedly throw. With this being somewhat of an exhibition fight we think Fury to drag out the spectacle and win by points makes for much better value at 11/2.

Ngannou has a ‘puncher’s chance’… or does he?

Having never actually competed in a professional boxing match, some may label Ngannou mad to be getting into the ring with one of the most feared fighters on the planet. In reality, Ngannou’s style of fighting in the UFC is similar to that of a hard-hitting heavyweight boxer.

Ngannou’s complete lack of a boxing CV makes him the clear underdog for this fight at 7/1 and there is not much to suggest that those odds are harsh on him.

Ngannou was one of the most feared knockout specialists in the UFC in his prime, but he has not fought since January 2022 when he defeated Cyril Gane by decision in his final UFC bout. It is more the style than the frequency of Ngannou’s knockouts that earned him the reputation as ‘The Predator’, striking devastating blows which left opponents unmoving on the canvas. Any man with that kind of power has the famous ‘puncher’s chance’ and we make Ngannou’s chances around 6/1 to beat Fury by KO, TKO or DQ.

The problem for Ngannou is that, with a wealth of experience under his belt, Fury has seen his type before and has beaten them emphatically. Fury is a master of keeping out of range, dodging, ducking, dipping and diving around punches to avoid getting hit – and even when he does get hit he seems to be impossible to keep down. Unsurprisingly, Ngannou is as big as 50/1 to beat Fury by decision and this outcome looks almost impossible.

The only way we can see Ngannou getting a result is if he comes out swinging for the houses, but even then he will have to put Fury down a couple of times early on to really rock him. Ngannou is 4/1 to knock Fury down at any time in the fight and with the power that he possesses we think it is worth a shot on him landing at least one grounding blow, even if it doesn’t keep Fury down.

We’re offering Top Price Guarantee on round betting for the Fury v Ngannou fight. Find the full details here.