Fury-Ngannou takeaways: Boxing may have a new star in Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou shook up the combat sports world in defeat.

The former UFC heavyweight champion made his boxing debut against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fury, a top-ranked pound-for-pound boxer, was expected to take care of business with ease and then slide into an undisputed title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in December.

Instead, Ngannou exceeded expectations in a huge way, scoring the lone knockdown of the fight, taking Fury the distance, and being competitive for all 10 rounds. In the end, the world champion settled with a hard-fought, split-decision victory against the boxing neophyte.

Fury may have won the fight, but Ngannou won the night. The existence of this photo serves as evidence:

There's a lot to digest from Fury's win over Ngannou, and the surprising outcome will no doubt have an impact on boxing and MMA moving forward. Spoiler: Ngannou's newfound presence in the sweet science is already being felt - more on that later. Here are the eight biggest takeaways from the blockbuster fight.

Ngannou proved everybody wrong

Everyone owes Ngannou an apology. Myself included.

No one - and I mean no one, except MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew - gave Ngannou hope in hell against Fury. After all, prevailing wisdom says a boxing newcomer will always lose to one of the best boxers in the world. A Ngannou upset on Saturday was so unlikely that it may have surpassed Buster Douglas' historic 1990 win over Mike Tyson. But never mind winning - no one even gave Ngannou a chance of looking good against Fury.

In MMA, Ngannou was never the quickest or most agile fighter. It was his unreal knockout power that gave him most of his wins and made him the baddest man on the planet when he dethroned Stipe Miocic in 2021. Ngannou's style didn't seem to really suit boxing.

So in all of the boxing versus MMA crossover matchups we've seen in recent years, Ngannou outperforming everyone else - Conor McGregor, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, and Jose Aldo, among others - just didn't seem to be in the cards. And that's without mentioning Ngannou was fighting the No. 1 heavyweight, not a semi-retired Floyd Mayweather or a YouTuber.

The boxing purists hated Fury-Ngannou. They said it was a freak show (which, arguably it was), they said it wasn't worth their time, and they said Fury should be fighting Usyk instead.

But this was no second coming of Mayweather-McGregor.

This was one of the most impressive performances - and most freakish accomplishments - in combat sports history.

Ngannou brushed off every ounce of disrespect thrown his way in the three-month buildup to the fight. He was busy preparing for the intimidating task of trying to hand Fury his first career loss as a 0-0 boxer. And Ngannou believed something that no one else did, other than maybe his coaches and family: That he could compete with Fury. Well, guess what? He did. He was right.

It's time to stop doubting this man.

No robbery in Saudi Arabia

Despite all the praise Ngannou has (deservedly) gotten in the last 36 hours, let's make one thing clear: This wasn't a robbery by any stretch of the imagination.

There's an argument that Ngannou won the fight (one of three judges saw it that way), but I suspect many people will be surprised if they go back and rewatch it. A lot of people online seemed to be subconsciously grading Ngannou's success on a curve because of the shock factor. Ultimately, Fury landed more punches. He stayed busier.

To me, Fury winning felt like the right call. And it was far from a robbery regardless of who you thought won.

Dana White fumbled the bag, not Ngannou

Remember the narrative that spread like wildfire on social media that Ngannou fumbled the bag by leaving the UFC? Because he left a bunch of money on the table? Well, he didn't fumble the bag. It was UFC CEO Dana White who did.

With every move Ngannou makes this year, it is becoming increasingly clear that fighting out his UFC contract in 2022 - and then sticking to his guns and parting ways with the promotion as a free agent earlier in 2023 - was an incredibly wise career decision.

(As a side note, here's what White said about Ngannou's departure earlier this year. Sounds a bit silly in hindsight, doesn't it?)

First, Ngannou signed the monumental deal with PFL, giving him multiple lucrative fights on pay-per-view as well as equity and leadership roles within the company. That was a good start. And then he signed on for the boxing match with Fury - the biggest payday of his career. This was especially impressive because there was a brief period of time where it seemed like Ngannou was struggling to get an opponent on board. Still, the Fury fight wasn't enough to convince everybody - some people argued it was one payday and that was it.

But then Ngannou came one point away from beating Fury on Saturday. And that changed everything: It gave him endless directions in which he can take his fighting career moving forward and hopefully shut up the haters for good. And the UFC gets nothing from this.

Ngannou could've been a superstar for the UFC. The action-figure physique, the otherworldly knockout power, the impressive highlight reel, the inspiring life story that could be a Hollywood movie. His last four fights before winning the UFC heavyweight title lasted a combined two minutes and 42 seconds. Do you really think the UFC and its marketing machine couldn't have turned Ngannou into the guy? He was - and still is - the freakin' baddest man on the planet, for goodness sake. But it's only now that Ngannou appears to be inching toward mainstream success.

The UFC letting Ngannou run free to the PFL - and to a boxing match with Fury that I bet White and Co. did not think would happen - instead of giving him what he wanted and booking the Jon Jones fight is looking more and more ill-advised each day. That's putting it nicely. After all is said and done, this might go down as one of the UFC's worst business decisions of all time.

MMA gets a rare win over boxing

Quick one here: The MMA community has had some rough nights in the last few years with these crossover fights. More often than not, it's social media influencer Jake Paul knocking out, knocking down, or outboxing some of the sport's legends. And MMA ends up getting humiliated and scrutinized as a sport.

Not on Saturday. That was a big win for MMA. All thanks to Ngannou.

For what it's worth, that didn't necessarily make it a bad night for boxing, even if the lineal heavyweight champion barely getting past a newbie isn't the best look. Ngannou's overachievement against Fury is a big story. It adds some buzz to the sport. And boxing's glamour division might just have its latest contender.

Fury caught off guard with Ngannou's abilities

Fury knows this was one of his worst performances in years. So what happened?

It's hard to say. Fury did a 12-week training camp to prepare for Ngannou. He said multiple times in interviews that Ngannou was a harder fight than Usyk (an opinion that most people, understandably, scoffed at and chalked up to Fury trying to sell the fight). All signs pointed to Fury taking the matchup seriously.

But at the same time, he thought it would be a walk in the park. All week, he told Ngannou he was going to show him that there were levels to boxing. That he was going to knock him out.

Perhaps Fury was overconfident. Trained hard, but didn't think he would need to fight hard. Fury admitted postfight that Ngannou was a better boxer than he thought. When it became evident Ngannou didn't come to play - particularly after the knockdown in the third round - that may have caught Fury off guard. He struggled to get things going all night. He might've been a bit shell-shocked. This is probably the best explanation for his shockingly poor performance.

Ngannou should focus on boxing in 2024

Forget MMA. For now, anyway. Ngannou should go full steam ahead with this new boxing career heading into 2024 and see where it takes him - because it could take him far.

How can you not capitalize on a moral victory as big as this one? After winning one scorecard against the No. 1 heavyweight boxer, Ngannou's stock has arguably never been higher. The boxing world went from calling Fury-Ngannou a joke to debating where Ngannou belongs in the heavyweight top 10. Think about how crazy that is.

All of a sudden, the door is open for Ngannou to participate in several high-profile boxing matches in the next year or two. Deontay Wilder. Anthony Joshua. Maybe Usyk. And, of course, a rematch with Fury would be huge. We're talking about millions and millions of dollars. Paydays that don't compare to what Ngannou would be getting in the UFC.

Ngannou is 37 years old. He won't be around for another decade. But he still has time to make some waves in a new sport - taking Fury to a split decision is a great start. Imagine if Ngannou can move between boxing and MMA simultaneously, finding success in both.

Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, has already expressed interest in booking the Ngannou fight. Wilder likely wants that fight, too. Heavyweights are going to think they can beat Ngannou because of his inexperience. They may be right. Or they may be wrong. Either way, it is not an understatement to say "The Predator" has become one of the hottest commodities in boxing overnight. Is he, somehow, miraculously, against all odds, a budding star in the sport?

Don't forget the key aspect in all of this: Ngannou seems to be damn good at this boxing thing. So try it again. The second training camp will be better than the first. Ngannou undoubtedly learned a lot by spending 30 minutes in the ring with Fury. He'll be a better boxer the next time we see him in the ring - which is a scary thought for the Dillian Whytes and Derek Chisoras of the world. Ngannou would probably beat those guys today.

Of course, Ngannou has a contract with the PFL. That could make things complicated over the next few months. He said after the Fury fight that he plans to make his PFL debut in February or March. Things can change, though. Ngannou in any combat sport is must-watch television, so I can't complain too much if a return to MMA is next. But let's be real: Which is more intriguing for Ngannou right now, MMA or boxing? There's just no one for him to fight in MMA outside the UFC.

At the very least, the second half of 2024 should be dedicated to boxing. There is too much for Ngannou to gain in that sport. He has to go for it. At least try.

Is Fury still the No. 1 heavyweight?

This could be recency bias, but it sure seems like Usyk, who holds the other three world heavyweight belts, will give Fury a tough fight whenever they meet.

In that regard, you could place Usyk ahead of Fury in the heavyweight rankings and no one would argue. But at the same time, it doesn't feel wrong to still have Fury at No. 1.

As mentioned earlier, Fury's win over Ngannou wasn't a good showing. But "The Gypsy King" deserves at least somewhat of a pass. Even the greatest champions have an off night once in a while. Maybe that's what this was. It's important not to jump to conclusions after one outlier of a performance - especially considering it was in a unique crossover match against an MMA fighter.

If Fury has another stinker against Usyk, though, then all bets are off. The pressure is on for sure.

Eric Nicksick, come get your trophy

Eric Nicksick, who was in Ngannou's corner and has coached him for years out of Las Vegas' Xtreme Couture MMA gym, is a lock for Coach of the Year in MMA.

One of the most underrated minds in the fight game, Nicksick guided Sean Strickland to an upset win over Israel Adesanya to claim the UFC middleweight title in September. And then he helped guide Ngannou to a near Earth-shattering upset of Fury. All in the span of seven weeks. Absolutely amazing stuff.