Francis Ngannou may have lost the 10-round boxing match against WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, but it was one of those losses that was much more honorable than some victories. In a crossover fight where no one gave him a chance, Ngannou surprised one and all by giving ‘The Gypsy King’ one of the toughest fights of his boxing career.
During the fight, the former UFC champion managed to go toe-to-toe with Fury, constantly applying pressure and even scoring a knockdown in the third round of the fight. It should be noted, Francis became only the third person to knock down the lineal boxing heavyweight champ.
However, according to two out of the three judges present at the ringside. Fury was able to connect with enough significant shots against the transitioning fighter, ultimately preserving his undefeated record.
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It was a controversial decision, as many considered the Cameroonian to be the real winner, as he dropped Fury and also hurt him a few times with his powerful punches. The fact that the winner of the fight is a topic for debate is kind of a victory for ‘The Predator’, who was making his debut against one of the greatest heavyweights of the current times.
Francis Ngannou vs. Tyson Fury PPV buys and Gate revenue
According to a report by Sports Payout, the fight between the two heavyweight giants attracted an estimated PPV number of 1.5 million. Moreover, the revenue generated from the PPV sales is expected to be around $125 million which is a massive figure.
Furthermore, some extra cash is set to be generated by the venue ticket sales, which were reportedly around $12 million. These are just estimated numbers, and the official PPV number may as well be much higher, which will, of course, increase the revenue figure.
This is a record-breaking number for both fighters, as these kinds of numbers have not been achieved by either of them previously. In Fury’s last fight, which was against Derek Chisora, PPV sales were reported to be around 500,000.
The trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder also fell short of expectations as it gathered 900,000 PPV buys as per BJ Penn. The second fight against Wilder is one of the most successful fights of Fury’s career, as it touched 1.2 million PPV buys, according to BT Sport.
For Ngannou, it was the biggest payday of his career by far. He reportedly earned $10 million as base pay for this fight, which is much more than the $600,000 that he was paid to fight Ciryl Gane in his last UFC appearance. Before that, Ngannou got paid $500,000 to win the heavyweight gold in 2021 against Stipe Miocic.
Additionally, the fight being as close as it was, fans are now demanding a rematch between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, and that is where the real gold lies. Rematches in combat sports are known to be huge money-making affairs. So it will be interesting to see if the duo runs it back anytime soon.