Lovers of bizarro will once again be in for a treat. Sources from ESPN have confirmed that the battle between two heavyweight monsters from the boxing and MMA industries has just been given the green light.
What does this mean? That we'll see a big show in Riyadh on October 28th, which may very well be counted in the official rankings.
The duel between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou has been talked about for months, but always kept at a distance by various media outlets. The prevailing public opinion was that it was an idea that would not be so easy to implement.
The opposite!
Saudi Arabia, intent on highlighting combat sports in their country, has found a way to give the pastime a platform.
The powerful sheiks broke the piggy bank and made the two fighters an offer they couldn't refuse. While we don't have specific numbers, let's assume that none of the major players will go below twenty-five million dollars.
It is already certain that the Cameroonian Predator, who ruled the UFC heavyweight division just a year ago, will double all of his lifetime earnings to date.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was asked what he thought of the fight. He only admitted that he gave it his blessing, but he didn't have time to mention whether it will be held under pure boxing or hybrid MMA rules.
It's also expected, which was mentioned in the pre-fight speculation, that both heavyweight fighters will put on a pair of small MMA gloves.
"The great Francis Ngannou has been on my punch list for a while now," Fury said during a live inside the ring meeting with Ngannou last year.
"MMA gloves, boxing gloves, it doesn't matter to me. I think everyone wants to see our fight. He's an absolute monster, I'm an absolute monster, so we're going to have a fight between two titans!" did a preliminary promo for the duel, which has now been officially sanctioned.