In almost all of his fights I feel like Ngannou's robbed even though during analysis the other fighter's more powerful, especially during his fight with Fury where I still feel like he should've won that match and one of the very reasons why split decisions shouldn't even be a thing anymore, but I feel like this one's going to be different though. Joshua definitely got his own shit and something to prove for that matter but I feel like he's not gonna fare well in this battle.
If we are talking about Ngannou here, he has only 1 fight as a pro-boxer, but I do agree that he might have been robbed against Fury. Maybe everyone is on the bag as they don't want to derail Usyk vs Fury fight as a lot is on the line. But in this fight, if Ngannou is no longer just a hype job, he could really push Joshua to the limit here. Joshua has been mentality broken in Ruiz and Usyk fight. And if by chance Ngannou's hit his mark on Joshua's chin, this fight will end early. And Francis as well show that he had a good gas tank, so if the fight goes to distance, he can still upset Joshua as Anthony's gas tank is suspected as well and in the Usyk second fight, we have seen him getting tired in the championship rounds. This fight is where Francis gets to prove himself and show that the first fight wasn't just a fluke. If what Francis said is true that he wasn't using 100% of his power due to fearing he may have gassed out early then that makes him doubly dangerous now. He knows he can up the pressure and not take it as easy as the first fight and no doubt he's improved in training from his first fight too along with hopefully working on his cardio. I was very impressed with how Ngannou fought like a boxer in the Fury fight but I think he needs to combine that with how he fought in the UFC and just use the power he has and try get an early KO which is pretty much how most of his UFC fights went. As people have said, AJ probably has a weaker chin as well so he needs to capitalise on that, but AJ is on a bit of a winning streak right now and seems to be very confident and got his mojo back but that could also be very easily taken away from him too. AJ will be seeing this fight as a chance to get one over on Fury by proxy and do a better job than he did whilst trying to get a fight with Fury next in the process. And if by chance Ngannou's hit his mark on Joshua's chin, this fight will end early. And Francis as well show that he had a good gas tank, so if the fight goes to distance, he can still upset Joshua as Anthony's gas tank is suspected as well and in the Usyk second fight, we have seen him getting tired in the championship rounds. Ngannou doesn't have a good gas tank. His mouth was already wide open as early as the second round. But I admire him for knowing how to save it. His style doesn't consume much energy. He's not throwing away useless punches here and there. So even if his tank is already running low, he can still very much throw his strong punch. He did go the full ten rounds against the current heavyweight champ of the world though so lets give him credit for that. I'm sure he's been working on his cardio too but maybe Francis will try get an early KO this time so he doesn't need to go the distance but if he can do it against Fury I think he can do it against AJ as well. |
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 Many are still enraged with how the undercard are put up for this fight. I think everyone here as well can't believed that a wash up fighter is there for the biggest fight in this division. To the point that they are saying that this is the worst undercard ever, ouch. Where has this been announced though cos I haven't seen anything from the official channels or the promoters etc? Nothing on either fighters socials nor Turki's where it's usually the first to be posted. Frank Warren has been saying we'll all be blown away by the undercard and that's certainly not a very good one. Jai Opetaia was reportedly sent home from sparring with Fury after only 5 rounds and there's rumours he knocked down Fury so if he's fighting then what are they doing sparring together at such a late stage? https://boxing-social.com/news/jai-opetaia-leaves-tyson-fury-camp/https://www.boxingnews24.com/2024/01/rumor-mill-churns-opetaias-team-denies-fury-knockdown-rumors/I cannot speak for others but in my opinion it is clear Fury will damage his legacy beyond imagination if he pulls out of the fight. Why would he play mind games for the sake of getting to this stage only to withdraw from the fight? I completely agree with you, something does not seem right about the way the lack of promotion is playing out but even more than that the lack of comments from both boxers has been noted too and I do not think it is down to them concentrating on their training. Letting it drag on without promo doesn't make any sense unless there is issues behind the scenes or they're just concentrating on the camp, but something still seems off to me. I think there should be a new poll: Will this fight go ahead on the 17th. It's only three weeks away now and we've still got nothing. I think Fury is probably desperately trying to get fit/in shape behind the scenes but might know he isn't ready for what is gonna be one of the toughest if not the toughest fight of his career. Maybe the Francis performance has knocked his confidence. To be honest, I think they might be better off doing this fight after the AJ/Ngannou one and then they can announce the winner of that fight will get a shot at either Fury or Usyk again. |
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It could be the case they (Fury and Usyk) will let all this drag on without much fanfare for several weeks more and then go on a publicity campaign to bring more of a spotlight on the fight. Also, eventually when the two boxers get on a stage to face-off at the weight-in, that will be a significant moment. If that is their plan (not wanting to overhype, I think their strategy will fail).
If the teams behind the Fury vs Usyk fight are looking at the buzz surrounding the Joshua vs Ngannou fight, they have to accept there is a problem. I think there should be far more anticipation and excitement at the unification fight but Ngannou had added a new dimension to the heavyweight scene (for now at least).
Letting it drag on without promo doesn't make any sense unless there is issues behind the scenes or they're just concentrating on the camp, but something still seems off to me. Frank Warren said something worrying at the end of this interview earlier when asked about the fight and said something along the lines of I hope Tyson doesn't pull out and doesn't believe that's the case but he really doesn't seem that confident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht0yY2mzHB4The fight is less than a month away now and still no undercard or press conference announced. If they don't announce something before the end of the month my money is on the fight not happening. They need to get moving with this so the AJ/Ngannou fight doesn't overshadow it then and soon as this fight is done they can start ramping up the promo for that the following month. |
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Parker was impressive but Wilder seemed off to me. I think Zhang will either win by KO or Parker on points, but I think Zhang should get a KO. Joe Joyce got a KO against Parker and Zhang absolutely battered Joyce twice and was the first to do so.
Good analysis, between the two Zhang, is a big hitter, and that was an ugly knockout of Zhang over Joyce, did we all hear how the crowd reacted every time Zhang snapped Joyce's head? If Zhang can find his range and he can deliver that straight left Parker is in trouble, and we should all remember Joyce beat Parker by a TKO and Zhang beat Joyce twice by stoppage, if parker fights the way he fought Wilder he has a good chance to win on points and if Zhang delivers a performance as he did against Joyce he will win by knockout, so its all about implementation and who wants the to win the most. Not only can Zhang bang but he can take punches as well. To me he's the real Juggernaut. Joe Joyce does have notoriously bad defence but up until the Zhang fights he just took everything thrown at him and kept moving forward. If Parker performs as good as he did with Wilder he could cause Zhang issues but I think Zhang is too strong so unless Parker can wear him down I think Parker will suffer another KO. Gotta respect him for getting in the ring with Zhang though as it seems a lot of fighters including Wilder and Dubois were offered the fight and turned it down, which I don't blame them. If the fight goes the distance, Zhang could lose. He isn't used to a fight that would take more than 3 rounds. As long as Parker could avoid the left and just dance around til he gets the chance, maybe UD. On the other hand, even when we can tell Parker can take huge punches, he wouldn't last in fighting Zhang toe to toe, especially in the first rounds.
I'd be surprised if it does go the distance but that's probably the only way Zhang loses. Zhang has pretty much won all his fights by either KO or TKO, though he did lose on points to Hrgović recently but I and most others seem to think he won that. |
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It is ridiculous. It seems FIFA are only bothered about the finances. More teams means more matches and bigger TV rights.
Players have been complaining about the current fixture lineup and nothing has been done yet, sure they may get more bonuses, but I think they will rather have less matches and a longer career.
Yes, and now I hear news about Super League being overturned is illegal, so now Super League will continue. I was so upset Barca were part of it, they should know better, but of course they pulled out not that it made things better the damage was done. I felt a few years ago the day would come when I would stop supporting my club. It will never be because they are down, they suck etc. I would only stop being a fan when the football is second to the money. I feel scared this is coming very soon. How it was dealt with may have been illegal or an unfair mafia-like monopoly overseen by the powers that blocked it, but I don't think that means it will still go ahead. It was fans that were dead-set against it from the start and it seemed the owners canned it based purely on widespread fan outrage rather than it being blocked officially by the lawmakers and all the English teams withdrew almost immediately. If they do actually try to do it again I'm sure the same will happen and I hope fans vote with their cash and boycott it 100%. If hardly anybody is watching it it will be dead in the water. |
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think the fight will not actually happen?
i think so too. the date is so close already yet nothing is being hyped online. the fight will be held in Saudi, this is a place where people are giving away gold bars. the richest country in this region, it can't flop this way for it would only mean, they are pretty much interested in Frank Ngannou than Fury and Usyk.
if they want to make this event noisier, my suggestion is to put AJ vs Ngannou on the co-main event.
Nah, that's a stand-alone fight in itself and neither fighter will want to be on Fury's undercard when they're both chasing fights with him. Until I see the press conference I'm still sceptical of this fight going ahead, but they did at least release the poster for it which I'm not sure they would do if they thought it might get called off, though I guess either fighter could pull out of their own volition. Kovalev is 40 years old and beyond shot. He was already considered washed up when he was cherry-picked by Canelo, and that was many years ago. With all the legal problems he has had it doesn't surprise me that he is now desperate for a paycheck.
I was considering buying the PPV but if it's going to be $80, it kind of feels like a ripoff even if the main event is a historic heavyweight fight.
The PPVs in the USA are always a rip off and are usually 3-4x the times of it in the UK. I think this fight could come at a premium though given it's a historical undisputed but the Saudi's don't really care about making their money back and will always make a loss from these type of showdowns as no amount of PPV revenue is gonna cover the boxers fees. |
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I think he's going to be far more dangerous in this fight. The pressure of his first fight is off his shoulders and he knows what he can and can't do now. He's shown he can go the distance with the current heavyweight champion and on paper Tyson should be a tougher fight than AJ. Ngannou said he wasn't using full power against Fury either as he was worried about gassing out early. It's up to you whether you believe him or not but he didn't seem to be swinging as wildly as he usually does in the UFC so now he knows he can go the full 10 rounds I think we'll probably see a lot more power this time.
That's true, but pressure is not always a bad thing. It did work for him pretty nicely in a fight against Fury. Him getting more confident could result in becoming too reckless or overcommitting and getting countered, but hopefully his mma experience will prevent that. Looking at it from other perspective, he potentially have more in stake right now. The first fight was probably planned as a one off thing, but since he performed surprisingly well, he now could be fast-tracked into being in the top of the top in boxing. But if he gets ridiculed by AJ, then it would be obvious that the first fight was just a fluke and his boxing career could be over. I think there's more on the line for AJ though. Ngannou isn't expected to win, and shouldn't on paper, but if AJ actually loses this fight then that seriously knocks him down the pecking order not to mention embarrasses him. AJ has got himself back on track to soon challenge for the belts again but a loss would be devastating. AJ even proclaimed "Every opponent me and Fury have in common, I've knocked them out" recently, but means nothing if Ngannou flattens him. However, if AJ can knock down or stop him then that puts him in front of Tyson with something he couldn't do. AJ really needs this win to get a one up of Fury and sets the fight up between them nicely. Another attraction to this fight is the undercard fight between Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker who both come from spectacular wins, Zhang against Joyce and Parker against Wilder and this is for the interim WBO heavyweight title.
These two fighters are now on top of the rank because of their wins against their respective opponents and the two are possible contenders for the winner in the Fury - Usyk fight in case the winner of the Joshua - Ngannou can't agree on the terms.
Parker is my favorite fighter to win against Zhang, I am more impressed by how he beat Wilder than Zhang beating Joyce, but he needs to be careful Zhang possesses a very wicked left straight and he has a good lateral movement.
Parker was impressive but Wilder seemed off to me. I think Zhang will either win by KO or Parker on points, but I think Zhang should get a KO. Joe Joyce got a KO against Parker and Zhang absolutely battered Joyce twice and was the first to do so. |
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Still no undercard and I suspect the press conference for the AJ/Ngannou fight is going to overshadow everything else, which is supposed to be today but I've not heard anything about it so far which is weird so not sure if it's still happening today or not.
Also on February 17 we have UFC 298 - Volkanovski vs. Topuria, plus bunch of other cool fights. UFC even is going to steal some viewers. The fight is in one month only, and there is almost no promotion of it. Anyone ever saw a banner somewhere? Checked Fury media - he not a single post of him training. Where it is going to be aired? DAZN ? ESPN ? TNT Sports ? Expect fight not to happen. Everyone will again talk how it is impossible to negotiate with other side due to money. P.S. Imho people are more interested in AJ vs Ngannou and Beterbiev vs Bivol in April. Usyk though has posted on his Twitter some kettleball training, I can't remember how heavy is it, but he was just throwing and then catching it. But the poster though, it reminds me if BrokeBack mountain movie, Lol, you can search for the synopsis,  . I've search for the undercard and this is what I've found: Joe Cordina vs. Anthony Cacace Sergey Kovalev vs. Robin Sirwan Isaac Lowe vs. Hasibullah Ahmadi Moses Itauma vs. TBA Bakhodir Jalolov vs. TBA David Nyika vs. TBA ( https://www.boxingnews24.com/2024/01/fury-usyk-undercard-unveiled-opetaia-vs-briedis-2-on-february-17th-in-saudi-arabia/) Lame undercard though, seriously Kovalev? And then Cordina? Is that the best that they can put in this great fight? But what's the source for that? I don't think it's official as I haven't seen anything from a reputable outlet or the promotors. In an interview earlier today Frank Warren said they can't give any names yet but promises it will be huge (though I'd take that with a pinch of salt but I expect the undercard to be better than the above mentioned). Well, I think the hype only started to pick up in the past few days. Before that there was hardly a whisper regarding this fight and it was not being mentioned as much as it should. Regarding who Fury will fight if he wins or who Usyk will fight if he wins, I think beyond Parker and Joshua (and now Ngannou) there are not many heavyweights out there that can either or fill a void.
Even if Usyk is the underdog, he cannot be that far behind because the high standards of Fury have dropped to unbelievably low levels.
I still don't think there's been any hype. All we've had so far is a poster and no real comments from anyone involved or an undercard yet. The AJ/Ngannou fight is dominating talks so far and that fights even further away. They need to get the press conference sorted and that's when things will heat up. Fury will be a gobshite as usual wanting to grab headlines. |
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I think the Joshua vs Ngannou fight is going to be brilliant to watch and will end with Ngannou winning by a clear knockout. After watching what Ngannou did to Fury, I am confident the fight will be on the same lines as when Ruiz defeated Joshua.
There's supposed to be a Fury vs Joshua after that one, but that will probably depend on Fury if he loses the belt and feels depressed because of it, or not. Fury and AJ can still happen even if they both lose. Might make it easier to make if there's no belts on the line and Tyson loses his zero, though there's lots of fights to be made between the four including AJ/Uysk trilogy or the Fury/Ngannou rematch which Ngannou has been vocal he wants next. They have shared maximum a poster or two. I just remember and compare it with Fury vs Ngannou fight. Remember how much it was discussed, how much was time and effort was spend on promotion. That Mike Tyson as a coach story, all those pictures of joint training and etc. That great promo fun video. Where is all that with Usyk and Fury? I have no doubts that tickets gonna be sold in minutes, but with their pay checks, PPV numbers have to be great if everyone wants to earn. Imho that will be hard to achieve with one month left. Yeah, they'll surely have to step on the gas now the Ngannou/AJ presser is over. As for tickets it's in Saudi so it wont sell out as most are just given away to Saudis looking to fill up seats. Not many people seem to travel all the way to Saudi for the fights and it's usually 90% Saudis and a load of invited celebs. P.S. Imho people are more interested in AJ vs Ngannou and Beterbiev vs Bivol in April.
I dunno. It's pretty close for excitement but I think the undisputed has to take precedence but they really need to start hyping it up. Personally I think the Fury/Usyk fight could be boring but someone's O has to go so there's jeopardy there. Hopefully there's a bit of spice in the fight rather than just Usyk dodging everything Fury throws at him. I have also feeling that the fight is going to be boring. Usyk wont be able to knockout Fury, and will work on gaining points. Fury will try to catch and damage him with single or double strikes. For sure the fight will go full distance. Usyk probably wouldn't get a spectacular KO but he could wear Fury down like he did to Dubois. I think it's either Usyk on points or Tyson KO. Tyson will probably play dirty with lots of leaning and go for some low blows, especially if Usyk is getting the better of him. |
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The press conference was pretty lacklustre and uneventful. They didn't even announce any undercard fighters but they announced them after for some reason: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2ILhu8LhKL/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=fb22a48f-c247-424c-8bad-39e9a7860023https://www.instagram.com/stories/turkialalshik/3280952149862882476/Zhilei Zhang v Joseph Parker Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball Mark Chamberlain vs Gavin Gwynne Justis Huni vs Opponent TBC Ziyad Almaayouf vs Opponent TBC Roman Fury vs Opponent TBC Jack McGann vs Opponent TBC Zhang/Parker is the only one I'm really interested in. I would have said Zhang blitzes Parker but Joseph did very well against Wilder but I'd back Zhang to beat him anyway. The winner of that should get a title shot, but they announced during the press conference that they're wanting to make AJ/Fury next but both fighters probably need to win, or at the very least AJ needs to make it past Ngannou. I think Francis will approach this fight with much more confidence than in the first fight with Fury, but I'm not sure if that will work in his favour or the opposite - if he gets relaxed too much, he could get punished. He definitely looked more confident than AJ during the face off. I almost suspect Anthony acts like he's a bit afraid and withdrawn on purpose to get Francis to feel overconfident and make more mistakes. Link to the face off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbkuzGl-m60I think he's going to be far more dangerous in this fight. The pressure of his first fight is off his shoulders and he knows what he can and can't do now. He's shown he can go the distance with the current heavyweight champion and on paper Tyson should be a tougher fight than AJ. Ngannou said he wasn't using full power against Fury either as he was worried about gassing out early. It's up to you whether you believe him or not but he didn't seem to be swinging as wildly as he usually does in the UFC so now he knows he can go the full 10 rounds I think we'll probably see a lot more power this time. |
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I wouldn't listen to unsubstantiated rumours unless they're from a reliable source, but I am starting to question whether this fight is still going to happen and I wouldn't be surprised if Fury comes out with an "injury" excuse or something. I do not know if faking an injury is something Fury is going to do to get out of the fight. With history on the line and millions in their pockets, both boxers really should be fully motivated because this opportunity might never come knocking on their door again. Fury did talk the talk for so long therefore the onus is on him to ensure he puts on a great performance. If he wasn't fit or ready then injury is the usual excuse even if it's just to postpone the fight to give him some extra time to train, but it looks like the promo is going to start now so we'll see. The lack of promo and activity from all parties involved was starting to make people suspicious. P.S. Imho people are more interested in AJ vs Ngannou and Beterbiev vs Bivol in April. I think the Joshua vs Ngannou fight is going to be brilliant to watch and will end with Ngannou winning by a clear knockout. After watching what Ngannou did to Fury, I am confident the fight will be on the same lines as when Ruiz defeated Joshua. An Ngannou KO wouldn't surprise me at all, but I'm going with what I said about the Fury fight: either Francis KO or AJ on points. The press conference for the AJ/Ngannou fight is going live in London in a few minutes. Watch it on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oES2Ke6bi80 |
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Still no undercard and I suspect the press conference for the AJ/Ngannou fight is going to overshadow everything else, which is supposed to be today but I've not heard anything about it so far which is weird so not sure if it's still happening today or not.
Also on February 17 we have UFC 298 - Volkanovski vs. Topuria, plus bunch of other cool fights. UFC even is going to steal some viewers. They'll be on at different times though. The UFC fights are normally early Sunday morning in the UK and the Saudi boxing will probably be at a reasonable time of 8PM GMT. Still no undercard and I suspect the press conference for the AJ/Ngannou fight is going to overshadow everything else, which is supposed to be today but I've not heard anything about it so far which is weird so not sure if it's still happening today or not.
The fight is in one month only, and there is almost no promotion of it. Anyone ever saw a banner somewhere? Checked Fury media - he not a single post of him training. Where it is going to be aired? DAZN ? ESPN ? TNT Sports ? Expect fight not to happen. Everyone will again talk how it is impossible to negotiate with other side due to money. As linked above Turki Alalshikh posted it on his insta and both Tyson and Usyk shared it to their stories. Not sure why they haven't posted the poster to their main pages yet but I'm sure it's coming. They really do need to ramp up the promo but maybe they've been finalising the undercard to make some big fights to grab headlines. It should be a feast of fights combined with the AJ/Nagannou fight but they're going to be competing for the big names which Eddie has promised for the AJ/Ngannou fight, and if there's going to be any of the fighters from the last AJ fight they'll probably have to skip the Fury/Usyk card as they'll need the extra month for training no doubt. Opetaia is rumoured to be on the Usyk fight which could happen since he took no damage in his last fight: https://www.boxingscene.com/jai-opetaia-land-on-feb-17-fury-usyk-undercard-train-with-fury-ahead-championship-defense--180644P.S. Imho people are more interested in AJ vs Ngannou and Beterbiev vs Bivol in April.
I dunno. It's pretty close for excitement but I think the undisputed has to take precedence but they really need to start hyping it up. Personally I think the Fury/Usyk fight could be boring but someone's O has to go so there's jeopardy there. Hopefully there's a bit of spice in the fight rather than just Usyk dodging everything Fury throws at him. |
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Well it looks like they're finally doing some promo at least as they've finally unveiled the promo poster for the "Ring of Fire" fight on their socials:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C2FBgZrt1GY/Still no undercard and I suspect the press conference for the AJ/Ngannou fight is going to overshadow everything else, which is supposed to be today but I've not heard anything about it so far which is weird so not sure if it's still happening today or not. |
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15314262/I'm not sure if they mentioned Bitcoin directly (I might have missed it) but in the new David Ayer "The Beekeeper" movie starring Jason Statham they mention cryptocurrencies a few times along with one mention of NFTs and blockchains. https://www.polygon.com/24035803/beekeeper-david-ayer-interview-jason-stathamDavid Ayer on his favorite Beekeeper bee joke and making ‘crypto bros’ the villain It was basically The Equalizer but with Jason Statham doing a Bruce Willis and going after e-scammers. CSW's investors(mainly macgregor and ayres) own the licencing to do book/movie deals.
They might have done a deal with Craig on this for his life story or for his input on it but that doesn't mean other people can't make one about him. If someone wrote a book about him then anyone could buy the rights to that. People have made films based on articles before and the Andrew O'Hagan one was pretty good titled The Satoshi Affair: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v38/n13/andrew-o-hagan/the-satoshi-affairHe also released a book called The Secret Life: Three True Stories of the Digital Age but it was only part about Craig and featured two other works: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/11/secret-life-three-true-stories-andrew-ohagan-julian-assange-reviewAccording to that article it seems they were trying to get Andrew to write an autobiography on Craig but it probably soured/backfired. Similarly, the same thing happened to Julian Assange but that ended up being released as an "unauthorized" biography instead. Personally I just hope he gets arrested soon so there's a nail in the coffin on the story. Maybe we should try write a crowd-sourced script and then try get it crowdfunded. As I said before, I think the whole Craig debacle would make a great thriller, especially the bit where he gets raided by the ATO and flees Australia. Give a read/listen to the Satoshi affair article and the relevant episodes on the Dr Bitcoin podcast and you'll see what I mean.
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According to Fury himself, the poor performance was not to underestimating Francis, but more due to the fact they had no material (footage of any Ngannou's boxing fights) to use to analyse Francis' style. Plus, I think he admitted that he was simply better than anyone expected, which is true.
Joshua is definitely in way more comfortable position in this regard. He knows what to expect and will not underestimate him. Then again, Francis and his team could surprise everyone again and present a completely different style than in the Fury fight.
I too favour Joshua to win, but it won't necessarily be a walk in the park.
This was a bit of a lazy excuse from Fury in my opinion. There's plenty of UFC fights for them to watch and given Francis usually just stays on his feet and boxes they should have know what to expect, though Francis did surprise everyone with how much he looked like a proper boxer. If a casual was watching that fight and had no idea who either were if you asked them who was the proper boxer or current heavyweight champ I'm sure most would have picked Francis. Technically, no. You just have to be a top 15 ranked opponent to challenge for a belt and Ngannou is currently ranked 10th by the WBC so theoretically he could challenge for the title, which is crazy considering he's above Hrgovic, Joyce and Dubois.
How on earth is he ranked that high (or at all). He did do very well, but it was still a loss. Do they award ranking points for style etc? As much as I love Francis and thought he deserved a draw at least, it is ridiculous them ranking him in the top ten after just one fight and a fight that he lost on paper. Sure, rank him after five fights or something but not one. I believe they have a panel of judges that rank opponents but the WBC is notoriously dodgy and they ranked him just for their cut of his fights when they sanction them. Lot's of people call them We Be Corrupt haha. The head of the WBC said this as his justification: In an interview with MMA Junkie, Cooper remarked: "Mauricio Sulaiman the president of WBC said he is going to rank him in the top ten because he is better than most of the heavyweights in the top ten. https://talksport.com/sport/1621594/wbc-president-francis-ngannou-ranking-tyson-fury-fight/Which I guess is probably true but you have to prove that in the ring. Mauricio Sulaiman also went into the ratings criteria they use in this podcast at the 7:43 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wptfSZ-mWsI guess if you take into considertation his UFC status that that at least gives him a springboard. It's not like he's some random guy from the street, but at the end of the day it's just about the sanctioning fees for the WBC. |
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Doesn't matter if the UFC is involved with their boxing fights as well. Dana could have had his cake and eaten it too if he just allowed Francis to box. Ngannou was pretty open that he would be happy to do both and give Dana/UFC a cut as a cross promotion. If they can do it for Connor then they can surely do it for Francis too. Dana has shot himself in the foot letting Francis go. Ngannou was one of the biggest stars the UFC had but now he's the biggest PFL star and he hasn't even fought for them yet. Francis doing boxing alongside MMA just brings in more eyes from the boxing world and makes Francis an even bigger star that could transcend the sport. If Francis does well or even beats AJ then he's going to become one of the biggest combat athletes in the world if he isn't already. If he does beat AJ then he'll probably be fighting for belts very soon. The UFC has lost out on all that promo
As far as I remember, Ngannou was complaining not only on low salary, but basically wanted a freedom of action and asked UFC for full medical insurance. UFC does give some medical insurance, but Francis wanted it to be something like - he break neck, UFC support him fully till pension. We will never know full story of their behind the scene games. Personally, if Francis got 10 millions for fight against Fury, I dont think that UFC were able to pay him so much for a fight. That is it. He requested a few things, but not all just for himself but the betterment of all UFC fighters. There's a really good article that lays out what happened during his contact dipsute with the UFC and what he got from the PFL https://www.espn.co.uk/mma/story/_/id/37702902/why-francis-ngannou-left-ufc-signed-pfl-contract-dealGoing into the negotiations with the UFC, Ngannou said he asked the promotion for all fighters to get in-cage sponsorships and health insurance. He also wanted an athlete advocate positioned to assist fighters.
"I asked for a lot of things, which doesn't mean I was expecting all those things," Ngannou said in January. "But I was expecting one or two out of those things. Francis seemed to me to be be very reasonable and open to further negotiations but he really needed to be allowed to fight outside the UFC in boxing. Why would Francis sign anything otherwise when he knows he can make more money in one boxing fight than his entire UFC career. Francis stuck to his guns and I'm glad it paid off for him. Isnt Ngannou has to pass some opponents first, and get some rating to be able to fight for belts? Now he looks more like a talented guy from the crowd that box on the same level as champions. Now Fury fights with Usyk and all the belts are on the line. There are always obligatory belt applicants. Would boxing organizations really allow those who are in line wait, and let Ngannou out of turn?
Technically, no. You just have to be a top 15 ranked opponent to challenge for a belt and Ngannou is currently ranked 10th by the WBC so theoretically he could challenge for the title, which is crazy considering he's above Hrgovic, Joyce and Dubois. The WBC could choose not to sanction it or make Fury fight another mandatory though. I'm sure people would complain if they gave Ngannou a title shot so early but I think if he can get few wins under his belt then there's no reason why not. AJ is currently ranked at number two so if Francis beats AJ then that says a lot and if Francis can beat the number two then some may argue that makes him the number one contender. The WBC will likely make AJ the mandatory for Fury if he wins against Ngannou but it will be interesting if AJ loses. There's also the chance that the belts get vacated after the Fury/Usyk fight so they don't have to defend them against their chosen mandatories. |
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Rumours are going around that Tyson Fury could pull out of the fight because he is not motivated enough.
Personally, I do not believe he will postpone the fight but his motivation has to be questioned. After his trilogy of fights against Wilder, it seems as though Fury has not been at his best and does not portray himself as someone who is desperate to unify the titles. Usyk has himself not been at his absolute best either but hopefully both boxers will be ready to fight on the night..
I wouldn't listen to unsubstantiated rumours unless they're from a reliable source, but I am starting to question whether this fight is still going to happen and I wouldn't be surprised if Fury comes out with an "injury" excuse or something. I'm not sure what more motivation he would need than the ridiculous amounts Saudi are throwing at him. The fight is a little over a month away now and there's been zero press for it. It's almost like it isn't even happening. Neither fighter or their respective promoters have been posting about it or mentioning it in interviews and there's still no undercard fighters announced and some reputable boxing podcasts have also started to question whether it's still happening. If they don't announce a press conference or start promoting it on social media soon what are they waiting for? Something just doesn't feel right with a fight of this magnitude. The press conference for the AJ/ Ngannou fight is on Monday and the promoters have promised some huge fight announcements for the undercard so that fight is at risk of overshadowing this one, especially if it's another stacked card and with Wilder, Zhang and Parker all rumoured to be on it it easily could. |
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According to Sport Business Journal the purses are £31 million for Joshua and £16 million for Ngannou. Sport Business Journal report that Joshua will bank around £31m from his clash with the former UFC star.
Ngannou would receive around half that amount at £16m - though this is still double the amount that he made from his closely fought defeat to Fury. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-12943435/Anthony-Joshua-bank-jaw-dropping-career-payday-Saudi-fight-Francis-Ngannou-former-UFC-star-receive-DOUBLE-controversial-loss-Tyson-Fury.htmlBeefs can mean something especially when egos are involved. Dana has pretty much been embarrassed by Ngannou by not only getting these huge deals in both boxing and MMA with the PFL but almost nearly beating Fury. Dana has Dana pretty childish towards Francis saying things like he was scared to fight Jon Jones which is BS. Dana just tried to low-ball Francis and strong-arm him into an unfavourable contract and Francis had the balls to just walk away and make his own path. All Dana had to do was to just allow Francis to box outside of his UFC contract and had he done that Ngannou would likely still be with the UFC. Dana has been pretty hypocritical as well saying the UFC don't do gimmick cross-over fights but then offers to make Fury vs Jon Jones. Make up your mind.
Dana can be understood also. If he would allow Francis to have a fight outside UFC, then other fighters will follow Francis and would also try to sit on two chairs at once. As a businessman he can be understood, as he was risking his asset in exchange for what? More fame and media? He could have allowed Ngannou to participate outside UFC only if other boxers would accept a fight under MMA rules and under UFC promotion. That would be fair. He others to earn on Ngannou name, then let him also earn on Fury name for example. That fight between Fury and Jones, he proposed that to happen under UFC flag. P.S. Dana only allow his most milking cow to have a boxing fight, only because it would hype UFC also. And once he allowed his fighter to participate in other MMA event, but that was made when UFC were at the bottom and required any additional attention from the world. Doesn't matter if the UFC is involved with their boxing fights as well. Dana could have had his cake and eaten it too if he just allowed Francis to box. Ngannou was pretty open that he would be happy to do both and give Dana/UFC a cut as a cross promotion. If they can do it for Connor then they can surely do it for Francis too. Dana has shot himself in the foot letting Francis go. Ngannou was one of the biggest stars the UFC had but now he's the biggest PFL star and he hasn't even fought for them yet. Francis doing boxing alongside MMA just brings in more eyes from the boxing world and makes Francis an even bigger star that could transcend the sport. If Francis does well or even beats AJ then he's going to become one of the biggest combat athletes in the world if he isn't already. If he does beat AJ then he'll probably be fighting for belts very soon. The UFC has lost out on all that promo |
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Unless he moves the coins to another address, I don't believe him.
You don't have to believe nobody because it's the genesis block address and only satoshi is the one who's known to have access on it but we don't even know where he is or might be dead and unlikely to come back. When I look at Explorer, that address never sent any btc yet (only received), is it possible Satoshi forgot the private key? They can't be sent. The coins might as well have just been tossed into a digital black hole. This transaction having anything to do with Craig doesn't make any sense at all. If Craig had any control over the genesis block or any of the very first addresses he would have just signed a message by now, but he can't for obvious reasons. It's like someone throwing money down a sinkhole that they don't own to try claim ownership. I have no idea why this happened but I can't see any way how this benefits Craig. Wouldn't it be funny if Ayre paid Satoshi's address as part of an effort to force Wright to use it?
I genuinely hope this turns out to be true. It would likely signify the end of their cooperation and a tremendously weakened and fiscally-hobbled Faketoshi going forward. Because clearly there is absolutely no way in hell he's accessing the BTC in that address. Fingers crossed. Although, given that several block explorers seem to suggest the funds are from an exchange, odds seem slim. Ayre using a SegWit address seems comical to me, somehow.  if i was to go with the idiot belief that ayres isnt in on the CSW scam and genuinely feels that CSW could be satoshi.. then i can envision a conversation of: CSW "buddy i need $1m, you always been good to me, gimme money" ayres "ok i sent it to satoshis address, you can claim it there and also prove everyone wrong" CSW "but um, um.  [insert excuse]" however i feel ayres is in on the CSW scam and has not been interested in a cut of the stash and has only been doing collateral ROI deals about court fines, book/movie deals, company acquisition deals as he knows he wont see CSW move the stash.. because he knows privately CSW isnt satoshi so with that said i feel its more about binance and their totally different deal (with ordinals) where its ordinals (totally different scam) scammers pushing their scam earned coins into satoshi address unrelated to the CSW saga Doesn't matter what Calvin thinks just as long as there's a chance Craig can somehow get a hold of Satoshi's stash or bitcoin's IP someway. He probably knows by now that Craig isn't Satoshi but is still hoping he can con a court into 'officially' crowning him as Satoshi, which is unlikely but not impossible. |
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