This a surprising move by both fighters as they now agree on a big showdown in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this coming October 28. But there were rumors already in the past few days that there was already a deal made and they are yet finalizing on the details. But this could be the best option for Fury after ducking Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed belts. Usyk already has a schedule against his WBA mandatory Daniel Dubois and the WBC is yet to make a decision on their mandatory which makes Fury free from any responsibilities. Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou is more than a year inactive and as per his agreement with PFL, he is supposed to make a tune-up boxing match before challenging the big names in boxing. Money speaks though and this Saudi opportunity is too hard to say no for Francis. And Fury might be busy negotiating again once Usyk is done with Dubois, Wilder is busy coming to an agreement with Andy Ruiz for the WBC eliminator and AJ already has a schedule against Whyte.
There are no number of rounds yet announced. I'd be surprised if this is scheduled for 12 rounds. This is not an exhibition match either so it won't be surprising if the WBC will make a special approval to make this fight a voluntary defense. Anyways, I wonder if the poll is worth asking compared to which round Fury will stop this inactive Ngannou who's making his boxing debut.
Still, this is a massive fight. Fury is still considered by many as the real lineal heavyweight champion since he never lost after receiving that recognition from his victory over Wladimir Klitschko many years ago. And Francis Ngannou is branded as the hardest puncher in the world.