Tyson Fury is in no danger of losing his WBC heavyweight championship.
Fury was granted “special permission” by the WBC to fight former UFC champion and current PFL fight Francis Ngannou, and he won’t be stripped of his belt despite not making a defense against an official title challenger.
“Yesterday it was made known that the (WBC) champion Tyson Fury will be doing a fight in Saudi Arabia against the former UFC champion (Francis Ngannou),” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman in an official announcement. “It’s a 10-round fight. He asked the Wold Boxing Council for a special permission.
“As you guys know, Fury did everything possible to fight Usyk in December. He’s done everything possible to fight with Joshua, Andy Ruiz. In the end, he wasn’t able to get a top-tier fight and because he’s had no official challenger, we’ve given him permission to do this fight on Oct. 28 in Saudi Arabia.”
Mauricio Sulaiman said that Tyson Fury received special permission from the WBC to fight Francis Ngannou as there is no official challenger.
He mentioned that Fury tried to close fights against Ruiz, Joshua and Usyk but no agreement was reached.
— World Boxing Council (@WBCBoxing) July 11, 2023
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman explains why the WBC have given special permission to allow Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou and won't be stripping Fury…
[🎥 @WBCBoxing] pic.twitter.com/UYjUXd2TAM
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) July 12, 2023
The fight between Fury and Ngannou is scheduled for 10 rounds under boxing rules, but it’s unclear if the bout will be an exhibition or count toward their professional record.
Fury has yet to compete in 2023. The last time he defended the WBC belt was back in December, a TKO win over Derek Chisora in London.
Ngannou has never competed in professional boxing but has vast experience in MMA. Ngannou has 20 professional MMA fights, with the last one being a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane in January 2022.
Shortly after the defense against Gane, Ngannou vacated his heavyweight title and left the UFC earlier this year after a contract dispute with the promotion. In May, Ngannou signed a groundbreaking deal with the PFL that gave him equity and leadership role in the promotion, as well as the freedom to pursue boxing.
For more on the matchup, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Fury vs. Ngannou.
