Ngannou May Fade Away Unless…

By Kunle Awosiyan

Many boxing fans will laugh off my headline, having seen the performance of Francis Ngannou against Tyson Fury last Saturday.

However, the former UFC champion may fade away in boxing arena if he will not do beyond what he did last Saturday.

His best punch happened in round three and it was a counter that dropped a gliding Fury. Fury was on a motion when the hook came.

In Physics and quoting the first law of motion by Isaac Newton that every object continues its state of rest or uniform motion unless it’s being acted upon by an external force.

The Gypsy King was enjoying himself on a motion with two combinations when the hook hit his right ear. His legs gave way, he lost balance and landed on the canvas.

For boxing fraternity, Ngannou dropping Fury is not a nice scene but then it happens in boxing regularly.

At the heavyweight category, heavy jab can be devastating and force out a moving or static object from its natural state.

To Lennox Lewis, one of the greatest and a Hall of Famer, Ngannou did not do enough to get a victory against Fury. He made a show instead of winning a fight.

To Ngannou himself, he knows that only a knockout could make him a champion in boxing not judge’s decisions.

For me, Ngannou came to the party to dance not to pick a beautiful babe. Those who come to party to pick babes do not dance away their time, they dance a little, pick a babe and disappear from the dance floor.

When they step out to dance, they roll to the babe they want and whisper for a date. They are serious about it.

Ngannou’s dance to a blow that fell the Gyspsy King in round three looks more like an achievement to the former MMA guy while it is a normal scene in boxing.

In boxing, many legends rose from the canvas to finish their opponents and this is what Ngannou must learn from, that, this game is not about dancing but punching.

Having watched this match severally, I will say with all confidence that Ngannou only dominated Fury in round eight where he threw some good shots to push the Briton backward.

Of all these punches as heavy as they were, none could finish the rusty WBC champion. The hook in round three was a force on a moving object, it couldn’t have fallen a stable Fury.

We must recognise that the boxing gloves are more padded than the MMA glove, which of course should have been a great advantage for Ngannou’s power.

I will like to see Fury/Ngannou 2 to actually rate how far the former UFC champion can go in boxing. For now, he has become a new bride in town that heavyweights want to dance with.

He should first compete with the lowly rated in the division before coming for the elite. Of course, Fury is an elite, his behaviour to have opted out of engaging real boxer for MMA should not automatically make Ngannou a force in the division.

One match is not enough. He is not a champion until he wins a belt in boxing and for me, he should not jump the gun, rather he should learn the ropes to become a proper boxer .

He has the right to challenge boxers now but then some boxers also have the rights to reject his offer until he is completely absorbed into the fraternity where the organisers will force opponents to take the challenge or lose their belts.

Besides, Ngannou may fade away just as Buster Douglas faded away after his victory against Iron Mike Tyson.

He may fade away just like Nigeria’s Samuel Peter who became WBC champion in 2008 after defeating Oleg Maskaev in round six.

He may fade away just like Hashim Rahman who defeated Lewis in one of the boxing upsets.

He may fade away just like Leon Spinks who defeated Muhammad Ali and could not defend the title.

These sudden rains were applauded when they won against the legends but lacked the character to defend the titles because they only came to dance not to win.