After more than a year of speculation, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou will make his professional boxing debut against future Hall-of-Famer and occasional pro wrestling toe dipper Tyson Fury.
ESPN’s Mike Coppinger confirmed the news Tuesday morning, saying the fight will take place in Saudi Arabia on October 28th.
What is not confirmed yet is whether the fight will be an exhibition or if Fury’s WBC heavyweight title will be on the line. When news broke this past week about the impending fight, it appeared likely it would be an exhibition given that Ngannou has never boxed before. Tied into that question are the rules and number of rounds.
It’s assumed the fight will be a pay-per-view.
This will be Ngannou’s first fight in any combat sport since he defeated Cyril Gane for the UFC heavyweight title in January 2022. He and the UFC eventually went their separate ways after not being able to come to terms on a new deal which became ugly publicly.
Ngannou signed with upstart MMA organization PFL earlier this year and will be part of their pay-per-view division. He said he expects to debut for them in 2024.
Fury is best known to wrestling fans for his handful of appearances in WWE. He made his debut at 2019’s Crown Jewel, defeating Braun Strowman by countout. He also was ringside for last September’s Clash at the Castle as a second to Drew McIntyre and has teased a match between them several times.
John Hennigan has had a long list of names in working for every major wrestling promotion out there including WWE, AEW, Impact and others.
However, the current MLW National Openweight Champion is adding a new bullet point on his lengthy resume outside the wrestling ring and in the boxing ring instead. On Saturday, April 15th, Hennigan will have his first officially sanctioned boxing match at Creator Clash 2 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Hennigan will be facing Harley Morenstein, a Canadian actor and host of the YouTube show Epic Meal Time. Morenstein took part in the first Creator Clash event and successfully defeated Arin Hanson via TKO.
Creator Clash 2 features YouTube influencers taking part in boxing matches for charities such as the Paralympic Sports Association, The Longest Day Alzheimer’s Association, American Kidney Fund, The National Alliance on Mental Illness, and several others.
Hennigan has been a fan of boxing for a long time but says he never thought about doing it. The whole thing came about because he attended the first show, cornering fighter Nathan Barnatt.
“At the time, I didn’t realize how big the event was gonna be, but I was excited to watch him fight in his first fight. When I went and saw how well he did and how excited everyone was…all the influencers who fought in Creator Clash 1 had a really good time,” he explained.
It was when the showrunners were putting together the card for Creator Clash 2 that Hennigan was asked if he would take part in it.
Hennigan said he felt additional pressure to win the match given that he is a wrestler, especially from his wife, Taya Valkyrie.
“My wife (said) if I lose, expect to get knocked out twice on April 15th because she’s gonna knock me out,” he joked.
Hennigan said he’s been training with former UFC heavyweight champion and fellow pro wrestler Josh Barnett for the fight and also shared the very honest thing Barnett told him beforehand.
“When I asked him to train me, he said, ‘Sure John, I’ll train you but just so you know, boxing is your worst thing,'” he laughed. “He’s not wrong. I was like, ‘Josh, I know it’s my worst thing. That’s why I need you train me.”
Hennigan describes training with Barnett is like “trying to box a grizzly bear.”
Hennigan feels he is getting better, but know he has a long way to go. Regardless, he hs is having a fun learning new skills for a different type of performance.
“It’s been fun: not just learning a new skill, but being under the gun, being forced to learn. I forced myself (into this) by putting pressure on myself by taking this fight which I feel is kind of a fun thing to have this crazy goal and this date hanging over my head which makes me extra motivated to train every day,” he said.
Because this is an entirely new sport for Hennigan, he said he is more nervous for this fight than any of his recent wrestling matches.
“I think I am more nervous for this than I have been for a wrestling match in a long time because when I wrestle, I am very confident in my ability. I don’t have that confidence yet since I am just learning this craft. It’s fun and I like learning,” he said.
While the focus of the combat sports world is still on the aftermath of Saturday’s UFC 281 in New York City, pro wrestler Bobby Fish made his pro boxing debut a successful one on Sunday on the other side of the world.
Competing on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Deji Olatunji exhibition bout in Dubai, Fish (1-0) defeated Boateng Prempeh via second round TKO due to an apparent shoulder injury.
In the clip below, it’s unclear how Prempeh (2-4) hurt his shoulder but after taking a glancing blow, he dropped to a knee and the fight was called.
WHAT HAPPENED THERE? 👀@theBobbyFish stops Boateng Prempeh in the second round! 🔥
The 46-year-old is currently a free agent after his AEW contract expired as the two sides were unable to come to a new deal.
Fish made his Impact Wrestling debut at September’s Victory Road. He competed at Bound for Glory and then unsuccessfully challenged Impact World Champion Josh Alexander for the title shortly after.
The unlikely run of Jake Paul as both a boxer and pay-per-view draw continued Sunday in front of a raucous cloud in Cleveland, OH, as he defeated former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley by split decision.
The three judges scored the bout 77-75 (Paul), 77-75 (Woodley) and 78-74 (Paul).
In the post-fight interview, Woodley called for a rematch and got in Paul’s face, saying no one else would sell PPVs like he could. Paul said if Woodley got an “I love Jake Paul” tattoo tonight, they would run it back. Woodley agreed, even though they had already agreed to that stipulation prior to the bout.
While the first three rounds featured a lot of inactivity by the plodding Woodley, the former champion hurt Paul (4-0) in the fourth and patiently stalked him the rest of the round.
The rest of the fight was Woodley (0-1) not staying busy enough and Paul doing just enough to win rounds as both men often looked like the relative boxing rookies that they are.
It was an eight round professional bout fought at a 190-pound catchweight.
Paul was the younger of the two fighters and also the bigger of the two with four inches of height.
Paul was coming off a tremendously successful financial outing against former Bellator champion and UFC fighter Ben Askren, knocking him out in the first round. That was his last event for Triller before he signed a multi-fight deal with Showtime.
This was Woodley’s first ever professional boxing match. He was coming off four straight losses that ended his UFC run.
The card didn’t feature any other MMA fighters on the card, but Ariel Helwani was part of the broadcast team for the evening.
The combat sports celebrity boxing trend will continue as former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tito Ortiz will go to battle in a boxing ring.
The fight is expected to be the co-main event for a September 11th Triller event in Los Angeles that will be headlined by Oscar De La Hoya returning to the ring against former UFC champion Vitor Belfort. The news was first reported by MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin.
In June, former middleweight champion Silva (above) defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in both his first post-UFC fight and first boxing match since 2005. Ortiz has never boxed professionally. The fight is expected to be held at a 195-pound catchweight.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion has retired from MMA several times and was last seen defeating former WWE star Alberto El Patron in an December 2019 MMA fight. He is coming off an aborted run as a city council member in Huntington Beach, California.
In the latest boxing/MMA crossover fight, MMA legend and former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Mexico Saturday night in Silva’s first boxing match in 23 years.
The 46-year-old Silva won by split decision in an eight-round fight as the co main-event to Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. vs. Hector Camacho Jr. Silva took two cards 77-75 with the other judge giving Chavez Jr. a 77-75 score which those who watched the fight thought was suspect.
This was Silva’s third pro boxing fight as he lost in a 1998 fight and returned in 2005 to pick up a first round knockout, both in Brazil. He was non-committal in wanting to return to boxing again, saying he wanted to focus on his son’s upcoming fight for now.
The win was considered an upset considering the 35-year-old Chavez Jr. has 60 fights on his resume.
Silva was last seen losing to Uriah Hall by fourth round TKO last October in his final UFC fight, his third straight loss and the final defeat in a stretch that saw the great win just once in nine outings over seven years.
While Sunday pay-per-views typically belong to pro wrestling, a boxing exhibition with all the promotional underpinnings of WWE or AEW took center stage Sunday as Floyd Mayweather took on YouTube star Logan Paul.
The Miami, Florida, crowd at Hard Rock Stadium saw Mayweather use his patented defense to string the inexperienced Paul along for eight fairly uninteresting rounds, landing whenever he wanted.
The crowd began to boo in the eighth and final round as there were no knockdowns or knockouts despite the massive disparity in experience.
Paul unloaded hooks to the 44-year-old Mayweather at the end of the first round, but with no real technique behind them, the covered up Mayweather took them and shrugged them off.
Paul kept his hands low the entire fight with Mayweather goading him into range. At the end of the third, Mayweather landed a hook that found a home as Paul continued to tire.
The fight featured a lot of grappling and tie-ups with Mayweather clipping the increasingly fatigued Paul whenever he chose to. On several occasions, Mayweather showed mercy as Paul was against the ropes, hands to his sides.
The fight was an eight-round exhibition with three minute rounds. There were no judges.
Paul, 18 years Mayweather’s junior, outweighed the undefeated boxing legend by more than 35 pounds with nearly six inches of height as well. However, Paul had one pro fight coming into this exhibition while Mayweather was 50-0.
During the broadcast, they discussed Mayweather’s WWE WrestleMania exhibition with the Big Show.
The event was available on Showtime PPV and was expected to bring in a large amount of buys.
The spotlight will now to go to Logan’s brother, Jake, who faces former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in an August boxing match.
YouTube star and budding boxer Jake Paul is continuing his climb up the MMA food chain as he will face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in a boxing match.
The Athletic was the first to report the news which has yet to be formally announced. The fight will be on August 28th with the venue still TBA, expected to be announced this Saturday during the Logan Paul vs. Floyd Mayweather exhibition boxing match in Miami, Florida.
The 24-year-old Paul (3-0) is coming off a swift first round knockout of Woodley teammate and former Bellator/ONE champion Ben Askren in mid-April while the 39-year-old Woodley is riding a four-fight losing streak in the UFC. He became a free agent after his last fight, a March first round submission loss to Vicente Luque. His last win came in September 2018.
This will be Woodley’s first professional boxing match. He has seven knockouts and two knockout losses in 27 professional MMA fights over a twelve year career.
After the Askren fight did big business for Triller/FITE.tv, Paul signed a multi-fight deal with Showtime.
Originally scheduled for early-February and once thought to be dead, the Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul boxing exhibition is back on, announced for June 6 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
The event will air on Showtime PPV for $49.99 and will not keep with the original concept of fans paying more the closer it gets to the fight. Paul had initially said the reason for the delay was due to COVID-19 and wanting fans in the stands.
The 44-year-old Mayweather is shorter and lighter than the 26-year-old Paul. Yet to be announced is how many rounds, the size of gloves, rules, and what Paul can weigh in at. An undercard wasn’t announced.
Mayweather has been retired for several years, but returned for a December 2018 exhibition against Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, winning easily in under three minutes. Before that, he ran his pro record to 50-0 by defeating former UFC champion Conor McGregor.by tenth round TKO in August 2017.
Paul, a former Disney Channel star turned YouTube star that is known to WWE fans for his involvement in the Sami Zayn-Kevin Owens WrestleMania 37 match, has boxed just once, losing a split decision to another YouTube star.
His brother, Jake, is 3-0 in his young boxing career and recently dispatched Ben Askren quickly by knockout. He and former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier got into a war of words at Saturday’s UFC 261. Cormier challenged Paul to fight him in MMA while Paul declined, insisting they box instead which he detailed in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
YouTube star and pay-per-view draw Jake Paul’s boxing career will continue against an unlikely foe as he will face former UFC fighter and former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren as the headliner for an April 17th pay-per-view.
The two have been talking on social media about a fight since December, but it was made official Tuesday. It will be an eight round bout promoted by Triller, the same group that put on the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition PPV. Both men will wear eight ounce gloves and fight in a 20×20 ring with the location still TBA.
The 36-year-old Askren (19-2-0-1) hasn’t fought since retiring from the UFC after an October 2019 loss to Demian Maia. Despite a background that includes a dominant amateur wrestling run, he wasn’t known for his knockout skills throughout his ten-year MMA career.
Paul (2-0) is coming off a knockout of former NBA player Nate Robinson in the co-main event of the Tyson/Jones event and another YouTube star before that. His brother, Logan, was supposed to compete in an exhibition fight against Floyd Mayweather in February, but it’s reportedly being moved to a different date.
All these years later, Mike Tyson can still draw on pay-per-view.
Boxing Scene’s Dan Rafael reported that Saturday’s Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition match brought in 1.2 million buys on linear/satellite TV and through Fite.TV. MMA Fighting reported that number could end up being even higher — a massive win for Triller, a new social media platform that promoted the show.
The year’s biggest combat sports event in terms of PPV buys is July’s UFC 251, headlined by welterweight champion Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal topping an overall strong main card. The ESPN+ exclusive brought in a reported 1.3 million buys which means the Tyson-Jones Jr. fight is in striking distance of surpassing it.
It also would make it the biggest boxing PPV of the year ahead of Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder II that did in the range of 800,000-850,000 buys.
The fact the 54-year-old Tyson is still a draw decades after he routinely drew over 1 million buys with the likes of Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Frank Bruno, Bruce Seldon, and even Peter McNeeley in his first fight after getting out of prison is impressive. Following the draw with the 51-year-old Jones Jr. Saturday, he promised he would do more exhibitions and has frequently talked about a third fight with Holyfield. It was his first time in the ring since June 2005.
On the pro wrestling front, Tyson appeared to be building toward an AEW match with Chris Jericho as they got into a pull-apart brawl in May. Since then, the angle hasn’t been revived but AEW could be waiting until fans can be in attendance at shows again.
The $50 PPV also featured YouTube star Jake Paul vs. former NBA player Nate Robinson, additional boxing matches, and musical performances by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa. Paul’s brother, Logan, was also part of a 1 million+ buy boxing pay-per-view when he faced musician KSI in 2018.
In an exhibition boxing match Saturday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. went to a draw.
While the result isn’t official because it was an exhibition, the bout was scored by three former WBC judges (Chad Dawson, Christy Martin, Vinny Pazienza) for entertainment purposes.
The 54-year-old Tyson hadn’t stepped into a ring since June 2005 while the 51-year-old Jones Jr. hadn’t fought since February 2018.
The fight was held over eight two minute rounds with 12 oz. gloves.
Asked afterward if he would entertain fighting in a non-exhibition format if he could get licensed, Tyson didn’t seem interested and would rather do exhibitions like this to raise money for charities and awareness. He did say he would definitely do this again.
Jones Jr. said he would have to talk to his family about whether to embark on another fighting endeavor but Tyson was fully in support of him keeping at it.
All things considered, Tyson looked good at points and was aggressive during the bout while Jones managed to sneak in some shots while showing none of the speed of his heyday.
The lead-up to the match was somewhat marred by how the California State Athletic Commission was going to handle the fight, laying out strict orders about not going for knockouts and immediate bout stoppages due to blood, causing the fight promoter to have to do damage control to maintain interest.
In the co-main event, YouTube celebrity Jake Paul knocked out former NBA player Nate Robinson cold in the second round in what became a viral moment of sorts. The card also featured other boxing bouts and performances by Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.
The broadcast team included former WWE/NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, “Sugar” Ray Leonard, and Snoop Dogg himself.
It appears the expected AEW in-ring debut of Mike Tyson won’t be happening prior to Labor Day as as the boxing great and mainstream sports star will instead be returning to the ring against another former great.
Yahoo’s Kevin Iole reported Thursday that the 54-year-old will return to action after retiring in 2005 against multi-division champion Roy Jones Jr. in an eight-round exhibition match set for September 12th at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
The TV distribution platform is unknown at this time, but is likely set for pay-per-view given the names involved.
Iole said he heard some MMA vs. boxing fights will be on the undercard but James Toney vs. Tito Ortiz is not one of them as Ortiz told California athletic commissioner Andy Foster there’s no truth to that rumor.
Foster said both men will likely wear 12 oz. gloves and won’t be looking to “take each other’s heads off.”
Rumors of a Tyson return started earlier this year when clips of an in-shape Tyson training surfaced on social media. In doing media for an event earlier this year, UFC president Dana White said he heard Tyson was definitely coming back against a big name even though he wished he would stay retired.
After back-to-back losses to Evander Holyfield, including one where he infamously bit par of Holyfield’s ear off, Tyson’s final six years of his career were a bizarre mix of wins, losses, and no contests to no names and a eighth round knockout defeat at the hands of Lennox Lewis. Tyson ended on a two fight losing streak to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride.
The 51-year-old Jones Jr. hasn’t fought in two years after racking up a 66-9 career record with much of the last decade against no names.
Tyson had appeared at AEW Double or Nothing this May, presenting the first-ever TNT title to Cody Rhodes. The Wednesday afterward on Dynamite, he and an entourage got in a pull apart brawl with Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle which was expected to lead to a singles match at some point.
For the first time in two years, Brian Campbell of CBS Sports & Showtime returns to Josh Nason’s Punch-Out with a lot to talk about.
Since we last talked, Brian and co-host Luke Thomas launched Morning Kombat, a live YouTube show that has expanded out into watch-alongs and a new show that Brian revealed exclusively on the podcast. He also continues to put in the work with CBS Sports as the host of the State of Combat MMA/boxing podcasts with Rashad Evans, Rafe Bartholomew, Brent Brookhouse, and other guests.
A few topics:
We caught up about how Kombat came to be and his relationship with Luke on and off air.
The reveal of a new show coming to Showtime Extreme.
Dana White’s announcement that they are moving ahead with a May 9th show in an unknown location.
Whether Florida’s essential business change of heart will mean boxing is coming to the Sunshine State
Whether Nevada is going to be next on the essential business combat sports train
An early read on the WWE talent cuts (we recorded right when all hell started breaking loose Wednesday)
I also give a few thoughts on the passing of Howard Finkel including how he influenced me in my brief run as a ring announcer.
Enjoy this talk with one of the nicest guys in the media game and one of the fastest risers.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and myself, guest co-host Garrett Gonzales, is back.
We first talk about the big heavyweight boxing fight from Saturday between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. We then go over the latest on WrestleMania, how tickets are selling in Tampa, and talk about Tampa as a destination city.
We break down the news in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE and ESPN are having discussions about WWE content, the Wednesday night ratings for AEW Dynamite and NXT, AEW news, what’s been going on with New Japan Pro Wrestling, and also talk about the great UFC main event from Auckland.
Timestamps:
Start: Fury/Wilder fight
18:14: WrestleMania changes
22:36: WWE negotiating with ESPN for PPVs
28:57: Tampa ticket sales
35:19: SmackDown
40:02: Samoa Joe injured
41:50: AEW, NXT ratings
54:08: NJPW in talks for TV show in US, Nakanishi retirement match
1:05:29: UFC Auckland main event
1:12:24: Matt Riddle thoughts, this coming week
