FOR most people, the shots Francis Ngannou received square on the jaw from Anthony Joshua’s right fist in March would have been enough to see that they never so much as returned to a boxing stance, much less a boxing ring.
However, Francis Ngannou, a mixed martial artist and former UFC heavyweight champion, is no ordinary man. Steeled by hardship, both in his early days and even as recently as this year, Ngannou is built differently than most and is therefore able to fight just about anybody – whether in an MMA cage or a boxing ring.
It is for this reason that Ngannou, at 37, refuses to give up. He refused to give up on his MMA career despite flirting briefly with boxing, and he has refused to give up on his boxing dream, too, despite being humbled in two rounds by Joshua.
On October 19, Ngannou will return to MMA, as expected, in a heavyweight fight against Renan Ferreira. Yet, although back on familiar ground, he insists this latest move does not spell an end to his boxing journey.
“I never left MMA. Also, I haven’t left boxing,” Ngannou told BBC Sport. “I’m not returning to MMA, I never left MMA. That’s the confusion.”
Before he lost against Joshua in spectacular style, Ngannou shocked the boxing world with a stunning performance in a 10-round decision loss against Tyson Fury last October. Not only did he push Fury to the wire that night, losing only by split decision, he also dropped the former world heavyweight champion rather heavily with a hook in round three. Indeed, it was the dramatic nature of that moment, as well as the courage he showed in lasting 10 rounds with a man many expected to toy with him, which had plenty of people, even boxing people, encouraging the Cameroonian to continue practicing the “noble art” and fight Joshua in pro bout two.
Fast-forward to August and it remains to be seen whether Ngannou stays true to his word and gets back in a boxing ring in the future. Certainly, though, if he didn’t know the difference between the two sports (boxing and MMA) before fighting Joshua, Francis Ngannou, 0-2 as a boxer, does now.
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