The Baddest Men on The Planet — lineal & WBC heavyweight boxing champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and lineal heavyweight MMA king Francis Ngannou — will collide in a 10-round boxing match on Saturday, 28 October 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in an epic showdown between two giants, marking the opening of this year’s Riyadh Season, one of the world’s biggest entertainment festivals. The fight will be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN PPV (excluding UK, Ireland, US and Canada).
This clash of heavyweight titans is promoted by Queensberry, Top Rank and Ngannou’s promotional banner, GIMIK Fight Promotions.
The battle to find out who is the “Baddest Man on the Planet” will take place under the official rules of professional boxing, 10 rounds and three judges will settle the fight if necessary.
The undefeated Fury, 34, the six-foot-nine self-styled ‘Gypsy King’ with a record of 33-0-1 (24 KOs), first became unified world heavyweight champion in November 2015 when he toppled the long-standing ruler Wladimir Klitschko. Since then, he has competed in one of the greatest boxing trilogies of all time against Deontay Wilder, while more recently beating Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in front of record-breaking crowds in London.
The six-foot-four, 280-pound Cameroonian-French Ngannou, 36, 17-3 (12 KOs) became the UFC’s first-ever African heavyweight champion, knocking out arguably the greatest Heavyweight in UFC history, Stipe Miocic, spectacularly in 2021. Despite this being Ngannou’s first professional boxing bout, he is no stranger to the ring, having trained as a boxer for years before making it in MMA. For this fight he has teamed up with Heavyweight boxing legend, Mike Tyson, with Ngannou promising a spectacular knockout of the Gypsy King.
DAZN’s commitment to bringing subscribers the best in Boxing and MMA underscores this deal, which sees arguably the biggest and most eagerly anticipated match-up across disciplines being made available to DAZN’s army of fight fans in more than 200 territories.
Shay Segev (DAZN Group CEO): “DAZN is absolutely committed to bringing the best in sports entertainment to its millions of subscribers right across the globe. This match-up between two of the greatest fighters of all time in their respective disciplines promises to be explosive and engrossing – just the sort of event that engages fight fans as well as reaching new audiences. It is also a great honour to help kick-off the start of Riyadh season by bringing Fury v Ngannou to the world.”
His Excellency Turki Alalshikh (Chairman of the Board of the General Entertainment Authority and Head of Riyadh Season): “This is an unprecedented heavyweight boxing contest fitting for a global audience to witness so we are extremely pleased that DAZN PPV has joined with us to make this fight available worldwide.”
Frank Warren (Queensberry Chairman): "This is an event which deserves to reach all corners of the globe and the interest in Tyson Fury going up against Francis Ngannou has been phenomenal. Sports fans right across the world will be able to view this historic occasion to mark the opening of Riyadh Season live on DAZN PPV and we are delighted to welcome them as partners to showcase this groundbreaking heavyweight spectacular."
Bob Arum (Top Rank Chairman): “Fury vs. Ngannou has captured the imagination of fans from around the globe, and we are delighted that DAZN PPV will be a broadcast partner for this once-in-a-generation event.”