BOXING

Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou purse money: How much will they make and how will they split it?

The Cameroonian-French ex-UFC champion faces the unbeaten Tyson Fury in his first professional boxing bout in Riyadh tonight.

FAYEZ NURELDINEAFP

Francis Ngannou will step into the ring for his first professional boxing match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this evening against a Tyson Fury who remains unbeaten. In a one-off, 10-round boxing match at Boulevard World’s Kingdom Arena, the former ex-UFC champion heads into the bout as a massive underdog - Fury, the lineal boxing heavyweight champion has not been beaten in 34 bouts (33 wins, 24 KOs and one draw).

Different sport, different mindset

“You would be silly not to understand that this is completely different and take it as serious as it is,” Ngannou said in his pre-fight press briefing. “You cannot come to fight Tyson as you fight in MMA. That won’t work at all”. The Cameroonian-French ex-UFC champion has been training for the bout, dubbed The Baddest Man on the Planet match with Mike Tyson.

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Fury meanwhile insists that while he is the odds-on favorite with the bookmakers (-2,000 to Ngannou’s +1080), there is more at stake for him. “Let’s not forget, I only trained for six weeks for Deontay Wilder - I’m doing 12 weeks for Francis Ngannou. So I need to be on my A game because there is more on the line now that a boxing fight. If I lose to a No.1 contender or another champion, it’s ‘Well, he lost to a champion whatever…’ But if I lose to an MMA guy, I’m never going to show my face in public again,” he explained last week. “I’m giving Francis 100% focus because he’s not a traditional boxer and comes from a different background. I have to prepare more. With normal boxers, I can anticipate the punches coming from the same angle, but with his awkward style, they might come from different directions. That’s why I’m training as hard as I can.”

Fury vs Ngannou tops the bill on card with six other fights which gets underway at 2 p.m. ET.

Full fight card

  • Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou
  • Fabio Wardley vs David Adeleye
  • Joseph Parker vs Simon Kean
  • Arslanbek Makhmudov vs Junior Anthony Wright
  • Moses Itauma vs Istvan Bernath
  • Carlos Takam vs Martin Bakole
  • Jack McGann vs Alcibiade Duran Galvan

Fight purse, prize money

While no official figures have been disclosed, Derek Chisora, who lost the WBC heavyweight title fight to Fury in December 2022, claims that the English boxer is set to receive $50 million for the fight.

It will also be a highly lucrative evening for Ngannou, who will bank $10 million - both of those figures do not include income from sponsorship deals.

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