Previewing the best upcoming fights around the world
OUTSTANDING
GOOD
FAIR
DISAPPOINTING
RUBBISH
The star ratings indicate how well the writer believes the fighters match up, the fight(s)’ contextual significance, and how good the fight(s) will be
PERHAPS the only thing stranger than the sight of Francis Ngannou dropping Tyson Fury and giving him all he could handle for 10 rounds was how quickly a cynical spectacle like that – to put it kindly – was then excused and glorified in the aftermath.
Suddenly, despite the fight being roundly – and rightly – criticised beforehand, all you had were apologists; people eager to give Ngannou his due credit and concede they were wrong to have ridiculed him and his chances; people who said they had now learned not to write off any fighter, even those who have never before boxed.
It was, in summary, a rather bizarre reaction to a rather bizarre fight. Worse, this overcompensating, knee-jerk reaction did nothing to deter fights of that ilk from happening again in the future. In fact, by virtue of reneging on your original stance – a strong one, and the right one – and inferring that everything was now all right because Ngannou impressed you and shocked Fury, you encouraged more of the same.
