28 October 2023 , 16:38
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Former UFC champion Israel Adesanya will walk away with over $170,000 if Francis Ngannou beats Tyson Fury tonight.
Adesanya will be ringside in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to support his close friend Ngannou as he makes his boxing debut against heavyweight champion Fury. The Brit's WBC title won't be on the line in the fight because Ngannou is unranked by the organisation, but the crossover fight will go on both men's professional records.
Ngannou has only been given a puncher's chance by many boxing fans but 'The Last Stylebender' is confident his man can pull off the upset. Adesanya has placed one bet of $15,000 on Ngannou to win, which returns $123,000, and a second bet of Ngannou to win by KO, which returns $50,000.
Who wins tonight -Tyson Fury or Francis Ngannou? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"I’ve seen miracles happen in life, I’ve made miracles happen," Adesanya told Top Rank Boxing about the crossover fight. "I’ve seen Francis make miracles happen. If you know his whole story… from Cameroon working in the sand mines and in the desert going to France. Getting sent back six times to die and never giving up.
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"To do what he’s done, becoming the heavyweight champion of the world in the UFC. You can’t deny this man’s spirit and count him out of anything. Going head to head with the UFC brass as well, you can never deny this man his fighting spirit. We are about to witness a miracle, I really believe so."
Adesanya has backed Ngannou to be a good representative of MMA in the squared circle and he isn't surprised that Fury wasn't keen on fighting the Cameroonian in a cage. The Nigerian-born Kiwi also praised boxers James Toney and Claressa Shields for being the first high-profile boxers who challenged themselves by competing in MMA.
“There is a reason this fight isn’t happening in the octagon. You guys have to give credit to people like James Toney, who jumped in there at UFC 118. Fought Randy Couture as a boxer, got his a** whooped but he stepped up. Give credit to Claressa Shields, people like that who have stepped into the realm of real unarmed fighting. This is as real as it gets," he told reporters including Mirror Fighting.