Francis Ngannou stands a better chance than Jon Jones at defeating Tyson Fury inside of the boxing ring, according to official oddsmakers.
Both matchups are a pipe dream at this time considering Ngannou just signed with Professional Fighters League (PFL) and Jones is still under contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but it’s fun to discuss these crossover contests. Ngannou could end up wiggling his way into a high-profile boxing match, but he’d probably draw someone on a Jake Paul undercard or something like that.
Either way, betting odds are already out for a potential clash between Ngannou and Fury, as well as Jones and Fury. “Bones” just returned from a three-year absence to submit Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to claim the undisputed UFC heavyweight title, but he recently squabbled with Fury on social media so there’s some history to be shared.
According to oddsmakers (shown below), Ngannou is a +300 underdog to take out Fury in a potential superfight. Fury has never lost a fight in his professional career, but Ngannou possesses elite knockout power capable of stopping any man in the world. Jones, on the other hand, is a +600 underdog against “Gypsy King.” Jones would be a -10000 favorite if he welcomed Fury into the Octagon, but in this case the baddest man on the planet would play second fiddle.
Tyson Fury is a bigger favourite to beat Jon Jones in a boxing match compared to a contest with Francis Ngannou
(odds via @betonline_ag) pic.twitter.com/BBzrishMQs
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) May 26, 2023
Fury (-500) vs. Ngannou (+300)
Fury (-1000) vs. Jones (+600)
These matchups are obvious hypotheticals, but are we to believe that Ngannou would be considerably better than Jones in a boxing match? So much so that his odds to beat Fury nearly double? While Ngannou has the knockout power of the combat gods, Jones’ discipline, athleticism, length, and cardio could give him a better shot at “Gypsy King” than “Predator.”
Thoughts?