28 October 2023 , 11:30
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Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou finally clash in the desert tonight - but questions remain over the exact nature of their bout.
Boxing heavyweight world champion Fury will NOT put his WBC title on the line in Saudi Arabia despite not having defended it for 11 months when he stopped domestic rival Derek Chisora in London. That is because Ngannou, the former UFC champion, is making his professional boxing debut.
The 37-year-old has two amateur bouts in his native Cameroon to his name but as warped a sport as boxing is, not even its sanctioning bodies would rank him and allow him a shot at Fury's title.
But otherwise, this is a boxing fight as much as Fury's previous 34, of which he has won 33. The rivals, who might as well have been best friends at times in the Middle East this week, will meet over 10 three-minute rounds in Riyadh.
They will fight under Queensbury Rules meaning there will be a referee in the ring and three judges at ringside ready to score the bout in the unlikely event Ngannou survives 30 minutes with the best heavyweight boxer of his generation.
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Knockouts will of course be allowed with either man given a standing count if they hit the canvas. Ngannou will, of course, be fighting under a different rule set than he is used to in the cage, but insists that holds no fear.
"I've been training for over three months and I feel more comfortable," he said. "At the beginning it was very tough, not to mention I haven't fought for a long time. It was not only coming back to a training camp but for a different discipline so it was very tough at the beginning.
"But it got more comfortable and as long as it was, you wish you had two or four more weeks but you remember you have that in every camp. There is never enough until you decide it's enough and you go."
What is unclear just hours before the first bell, however, is whether the result of the fight will go on the respective men's records. The British Boxing Board of Control are represented here to oversee Fabio Wardley's British title fight against David Adeleye, and Fury's clash is now on respected industry website BoxRec.
But if Ngannou was to shock Fury - and the world - would it really be the Brit's first defeat?