Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou is no longer an exhibition after being approved by the British Boxing Board of Control as a full professional contest.
BoxRec confirmed the news by adding the contest to Fury and Ngannou’s respective records. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman then added a further exclamation point.
“It is not an exhibition fight,” said Sulaiman from Saudia Arabia.
Will Fury vs Ngannou count on boxing records?
Ngannou was accepted as a professional boxer as Conor McGregor was when he fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017. The 50th win of Mayweather’s career sometimes faces debate, but it remains on the boxing legend’s record.
Therefore, if Fury wins – as expected – on Saturday night, “The Gypsy King” will move to 34-0-1. The WBC title cannot be on the line as Ngannou isn’t ranked.
The only way “The Predator” could have fought for the green and gold strap would be to do similar to Vasyl Lomachenko.
Despite the Ukrainian wanting to go straight into a world title fight on the back of his 400-win amateur career, “Loma” was told he needed to be ranked first.
Therefore, he defeated a top fifteen-rated contender and was chosen by Orlando Salido as his voluntary challenger.
Anyone rated in the top fifteen can be chosen as such, per the rules and regulations of the World Boxing Council.
Mind-blowing
Speaking on the event and the occasion, Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, is amazed by the spectacle. Adding professional status gives both Warren and Bob Arum extra incentive.
“This is mind-blowing! I think, between myself and Bob, we’ve done something like 110 years of promoting. This has blown me away completely, and Bob said the same thing,” said Warren.
“I’ve never seen such brilliant promotion. I’ve never seen something so well organized. The venue was built in 90 days. What a testament to the people behind this.”
Fellow Hall of Famer Arum added: “Long after many of us have gone, people will discuss this event. This is something that nobody has seen before.
“When the fight was announced or talked about, there was not even an arena, and in 90 days, an arena was built to seat 22,000 people.
“Where in the world could that ever happen? I don’t know about the UK, but in the US, it would take two and a half to three years to build a comparable structure.
“This event is unique because it brings together the best MMA heavyweight ever against the best heavyweight boxer, certainly since Muhammad Ali and maybe ever.”
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
Editor of World Boxing News since 2010.
