WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed that Tyson Fury has been granted “special permission” to fight former UFC champion Francis Ngannou. The news comes just hours after a fight date has been agreed between the duo for later this year.
Following the announcement, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman has revealed how Fury was able to get permission to fight, and that he won’t be stripped of any titles for the bout. “Last night it was announced that the Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will be fighting in Saudi Arabia against UFC’s former champion Francis Ngannou in a ten round fight,” he said.
“He asked for a special permission to the World Boxing Council. As you know Fury did everything possible to fight [Oleksandr] Usyk since December of last year, he has tried everything possible to fight [Anthony] Joshua, to fight against Andy Ruiz.
“Anyways, he hasn’t been able to land a top tier fight and it is because of that, by not having an official challenger, he has been granted permission to do a fight in October 28 in Saudi Arabia.”
The fight between the two heavyweights comes after weeks of negotiations. Rumours of a fight ramped up following several social media posts from WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
The outspoken boxer called out Ngannou and fellow MMA fighter Jon Jones in a video posted on his Instagram. “Here’s a thought, how about this,” Fury said. “How about I fight Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou on the same night? How about that? That’s how much I value them two bums. Get up! Let’s go boys.”
Fury has since had part of his challenge granted after it was announced that he would fight Ngannou on Saturday, October 28 this year. The bout will be contested under boxing rules in Saudi Arabia, but the result would not count towards either fighter’s professional record.
The fight will be Fury’s first for almost nine months when he defeated Derek Chisora in a final trilogy bout. The 34-year-old won via TKO in the 10th round to defend his WBC title.
Ngannou last fought back in January 2022 which saw a victory via unanimous decision against Ciryl Gane. It was his last fight under the UFC which saw the 36-year-old join the Professional Fighters League (PFL) as a free agent.
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