How Fury-Ngannou compares with Mayweather-McGregor
From the financials to the fight rules… how Tyson Fury’s bout with Francis Ngannou compares to Floyd Mayweather’s record-breaking showdown with Conor McGregor
- Tyson Fury will face MMA star Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on October 28
- Similarities have been drawn to Floyd Mayweather’s bout with Conor McGregor
- Mail Sport have compared the two crossover bouts ahead of Fury vs Ngannou
Francis Ngannou has earned himself the reputation as the hardest puncher in the world and is looking to claim the title of the ‘baddest man on the planet’ when he faces Tyson Fury on October 28.
Boxing promoter Bob Arum, who represents the Gypsy King through his American-based company Top Rank, says Fury vs Ngannou will generate ‘monumental business’.
Arum even claimed Fury’s fight with Ngannou would generate more pay-per-view sales than Conor McGregor’s record-breaking fight with Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.
So, with the above in mind, Mail Sport have compared the two crossover bouts ahead of October’s showdown between Fury and Ngannou.
Tyson Fury (left) will face MMA star Francis Ngannou (right) in Saudi Arabia on October 28
The financial comparisons between Mayweather vs McGregor and Fury vs Ngannou
Financially, Mayweather vs McGregor was one of the best match-ups to date. It sold 4.3million pay-per-views, the second-best of all time, and generated in excess of £464m in total revenue.
It comes as no surprise considering the stature of the two athletes. Both Mayweather and McGregor were known for bringing in huge pay-per-view numbers and their crossover bout reflected that.
Mayweather averaged 1.81m sales per fight in the build-up to his bout with McGregor. The boxing icon sold 2.2m for his bout with Canelo Alvarez, 900,000 for his first fight with Marcos Maidana, 925,000 for his rematch with Maidana, a record 4.6m against Manny Pacquiao and 400,000 against Andre Berto.
Meanwhile, McGregor averaged 1.26m in the build-up to his fight with Mayweather. He sold 1.3m for his bout against Eddie Alvarez, 825,000 for his fight against Chad Mendes, 1.2m for his clash with Jose Aldo, 1.32m for his first bout with Nate Diaz and 1.65m for his rematch with Diaz.
Financially, Mayweather (left) vs McGregor (right) was one of the best match-ups to date
Fury and Ngannou are also giants names in the boxing and MMA world and could amass impressive viewing figures. However, it’s unlikely they will reach the same heights of Mayweather vs McGregor.
Fury’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko is said to have done 1.7m in sales. His first fight with Wilder is said to have made 725,000 PPV buys, with his rematch having brought in 1.2m PPV sales. Their third and final contest is said to have done 900,000 PPV buys – with Fury having a large fan base in the UK and USA.
However, Ngannou brings in far fewer viewers. The UFC doesn’t release its PPV numbers but the 36-year-old MMA star is said to be averaging around 400,000 per fight.
For example, UFC 220 is said to have done 340,000 to 380,000 PPV buys – with Stipe Miocic beating Ngannou via decision in the fifth round of their contest at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Additionally, Ngannou lacks the authority McGregor has. The Irishman is capable of convincing fans he has what it takes to do the unthinkable. Therefore, they are likely to tune in to see whether he can follow through.
The location of the Fury-Ngannou fight will play a role in the pay-per-view sales
The location of the bout could be detrimental to the pay-per-view buys as the bulk of Fury’s fans are American. The Gypsy King’s final fight against Wilder registered 900,000 buys, with 600,000 coming from the US.
Therefore, Fury and Ngannou could miss out on huge numbers given the fact their crossover bout is set to take place in Saudi Arabia. The location of the bout will making viewing the fight difficult for US fans.
The crossover bout will be taking place on the evening of October 28, meaning it will be morning time for the American fans tuning in. Therefore, it is only those who are truly committed that will give up their time.
Meanwhile, Mayweather and McGregor’s fight took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas – meaning it was easier for American fans to tune into the fight. Which proved to be beneficial considering the bulk of the fight’s PPV revenue comes from the States.
The location of the bout at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia (pictured) could be detrimental to the number of pay-per-view buys
Ngannou has a less of a pull than others who have taken part in crossover bouts
According to Midnite, Ngannou only earned £3.06million across his 20 fights with UFC – which makes him far less valuable than the likes of YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul or even McGregor.
The French-Cameroonian has won 17 of his 20 bouts, at a reported average of £153,000 per fight, which sees his career earnings dwarfed by Paul and other internet personalities like KSI and his brother Deji, and Jake’s brother Logan.
Paul reportedly earned $40m in 2021. Forbes stated that Paul made $40m figure from pay-per-view and other revenue streams following his first three fights against Ben Askren and then twice against Tyron Woodley. He is also said to have made another $5m from non-boxing activities.
Ngannou has a less of a pull than others such as YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul (left)
Paul’s clash with Tommy Fury also brought in huge numbers – with the YouTuber-turned-boxer admitting that he made somewhere in the region of $30m from the fight.
That means Paul’s total career earnings inside the boxing ring equates to roughly $84m. There is also a big interest in Paul and Fury given their longstanding rivalry.
Therefore, it will be interesting to see how much money Fury and Ngannou make from their bout given the MMA star is not as valuable and his rivalry with Fury is not as fierce.
Nevertheless, Fury is confident in handing Ngannou a hefty pay-day. During the early stages of their talks, WBC heavyweight champion said: ‘Francis Ngannou, I know you’re out of contract with the UFC. You want to earn some big boy money? Come see The Gypsy King and let’s do a big, big fight for the baddest MF on the planet.’
Ngannou’s punch power could pose a real threat to the Gypsy King given how many shots McGregor landed
McGregor landed a total of 111 punches against Mayweather – which was 30 more than the amount eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao landed in their 2015 bout.
The Irishman also achieved that feat in fewer rounds than Pacquiao and even came close to emulating Canelo Alvarez’s efforts as the 32-year-old hit Mayweather 117 times during their bout.
According to Boxing Scene, McGregor also demonstrated superior punching power – having landed more power shots than Pacquiao did during the Filipino’s bout with Mayweather.
Therefore, it shows that the right MMA star could catch someone like Fury. And, should Ngannou catch the Gypsy King it could be detrimental to the British heavyweight boxer.
Ngannou holds the current record for the hardest punch in the world – having registered a striking power of 129,161 units on a PowerKube (which measures the power of a punch by analysing its force, speed and accuracy).
Francis Ngannou (left) has earned himself the reputation as the hardest puncher in the world
No one has managed to break Ngannou’s record, which was set in 2018. The last person that tried to overthrow the MMA star was the former World’s Strongest Man winner Eddie Hall, but he failed.
Hall’s opening attempt landed around the 91,000 mark. However, his subsequent attempts climbed to 93,000, then 98,000, before clearing 100,000 and peaking at 113,999 units.
Ngannou also earned a 122,000 unit off-balance uppercut punch. Before registering a speed power of 51,064 foot-pounds per second which is said to be equal to the horsepower of a family car.
The result also revealed how Ngannou’s knockout power would be enough to lift a 240lbs heavyweight off his feet – which is interesting considering Fury typically weighs in at 263lbs.
UFC president Dana White emphasised just how powerful the MMA star is by comparing his punches to being struck by a ’12-pound sledgehammer from full-force overhead’.
When introducing Ngannou to the stage ahead of his 2018 bout with Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, White said: ‘Francis is a guy who has the world record for the most powerful punch.
‘His punches are equivalent to 96 horsepower. That’s equal to getting hit by a Ford Escort going as fast as it can and it’s more powerful than a 12-pound sledgehammer from full-force overhead. Holy s***.’
McGregor landed a total of 111 punches in his fight against Mayweather – showing how dangerous Ngannou could be if he caught the Gypsy King
While Ngannou’s coach Eric Nicksick previously admitted being hit by the MMA star was more painful than being struck in the head with a baseball bat. He described Ngannou’s power as ‘ungodly’ and said he felt sorry for the 36-year-old’s opponents as they could never replicate his power.
‘I’ve been hit in the back with a baseball bat before, and literally the bat, it broke. It was a wooden bat, it broke across my back, and it didn’t bother me one bit,’ Nicksick said on MMA Hour.
‘Then I’ve been kicked by Francis to the point where I couldn’t walk for two weeks, man. Like, it’s bad. It hurts, man. It hurts bad.
‘I’ll have the Fairtex (leg) pads on, and he’ll start kicking that pad — and the pad, all of a sudden, feels like it starts to get scared, and the pad starts to move apart. You’re like, oh man, this thing’s going to land hard. This thing’s going to land flush.’
Nicksick went on to say that Ngannou’s ‘ungodly’ power is something he was born with and insisted no other athlete would be able to replicate it – regardless of how hard they trained.
‘It’s a different type of power, man, the way that this man can kick and punch and throw and generate power. It’s ungodly. There’s nothing that you can train to be like, that type of power,’ Nicksick said.
‘I think it’s just our job as coaches to be able to understand what’s next — how do you add on to that power? How do you not fall over that power?
‘Then what attributes or what strikes can you do to go off of that. So those are the things that I think we’ve worked on a lot. But dude, I’ll tell you what, man — poor Dewey [Cooper]. Dewey’s elbows, my legs, my body, it’s just getting beat up constantly.’
McGregor landed 30 more punches against Mayweather than the amount eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao managed to in their 2015 bout
Fury and Ngannou are both in their prime heading into the crossover bout
Fury and Ngannou are both in their prime. Fury is the current WBC heavyweight champion of the world and one of the biggest names on the boxing scene.
The Gypsy King has held six world titles during his career the heavyweight weight division. One of those was a vacant title win, but the rest were lineal championship wins.
Some of his best fights and most notable victories came against Hall-of-Famer Wladimir Klitschko, Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, Tom Schwarz, Sefer Seferi, Derek Chisora, and Christian Hammer.
Fury beat WBC interim champion Dillian Whyte in April 2022 – which counted as a mandatory – and announced his retirement from the sport. However, it wasn’t long before he made a U-turn and took on Derek Chisora.
Fury won his title defence against Chisora by TKO in the 10th round. However, he’s been out of the ring ever since – failing to securing fights with Anthony Joshua and Oleksandr Usyk.
Meanwhile, Ngannou dominated the UFC scene before riding out his contract to sign a new deal with the PFL – which will allow him to take boxing matches. Nevertheless, during his UFC career, he registered five knockouts from his final six bouts.
Fury has not been out since his win over Derek Chisora at Wembley in December of last year
Fury and Ngannou are more similar than Mayweather and McGregor but the Gypsy King has the advantage
The Gypsy King is the taller of the two athletes, giving him the height advantage heading into the fight. He stands five inches taller than the MMA star at 6’9′. Fury is also expected to be heavier than Ngannou as he typically weighs around 260-270lbs for his fights.
However, Ngannou could surprise fans by tipping the scale at a similar weight given he was restricted by the UFC heavyweight limit of 265lb during his career.
Nevertheless, Fury will have an advantage when it comes to reach. The Gypsy King possesses a reach of 85′ – meaning he will be able to keep the MMA star at distance during their bout.
The Gypsy King is the taller of the two athletes, giving him the height advantage heading into the fight. He stands five inches taller than the MMA star at 6’9′
Fury’s bout with Ngannou will NOT be an exhibition, with both fighters looking to knock each other out
Frank Warren has described this bout as ‘war’ and says it will be no gimmick. It’s just been confirmed that the fight will be scored by three judges using the 10-point must system.
The fighters will be allowed knock each other down in the 10-round contest – with each round lasting a total of three minutes. However, it remains to be seen if the fight will be added to their professional record.
Similarly, Mayweather’s fight with McGregor was scheduled for twelve rounds and contributed to each athlete’s professional record – seeing Mayweather move to 50-0 after winning via TKO in the 10th round.
As a result, Fury will head into October’s bout as the favourite given McGregor, Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva have all struggled to adjust to the boxing style required for these crossover bouts.
Nevertheless, Ngannou could shock the world as Holly Holm stamped her mark on both sports, winning multiple world championships in boxing and becoming bantamweight champion in the UFC.
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