IBF Rankings Spell Bad News For AJ, Fury-Ngannou PPV Price Revealed
In the latest boxing news, The IBF heavyweight rankings have been updated with their new positions, which has had an impact on the mandatory position.
IBF Rankings
As of now, Filip Hrgovic is the IBF interim heavyweight champion putting him in line to face Oleksandr Usyk. However, the Ukrainian will face Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world.
The winner will then be ordered to face Hrgovic. But given that there is a rematch clause, the winner could decide to enforce it instead. If that were the case, Hrgovic would fight Otto Wallin for the vacant belt.
The initial rankings had put Anthony Joshua as the number-two contender, which is why the news is the blow given that a fight with Deontay Wilder has not been made. After all, Hearn had talked about Joshua fighting for the IBF belt.
IBF’s Ranking Impacts AJ
“You saw yesterday, the IBF, basically saying that, he’s going to fight Filip Hrgovic for the world title. It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out. He is desperate to become a three-time heavyweight champion, and I believe he’s gonna do it.
“The news yesterday from the IBF changes things a little bit. Basically, the winner of Fury-Usyk has to fight Filip Hrgovic, or they’ll be stripped…..and they’re not going to. [So] that’s [AJ-Hrgovic] the fight. And I believe that fight will potentially happen for the world title, and if it does, we have to look at that. We’ve got the Wilder fight….there’s a lot to think about,” Hearn said
That has left Joshua’s next move in limbo as without a title fight on offer, the Brit will still have to face an opponent that satisfies the fanbase. So as of now, Joshua’s future remains unclear.
Fury-Ngannou PPV Price
Meanwhile, the Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou pay-per-view price has been set at $79.99. The price reflects the anticipation that has been building up to the crossover fight on October 28th, 2023.
The fight will see Ngannou make his boxing debut against the WBC heavyweight champion to kick off the Riyadh Season in Saudi Arabia.
And in order to add to the event, Mike Tyson will appear in Ngannou’s corner as his trainer and cornerman. Although Fury is seen as the massive favorite, the ramifications of a defeat would be huge.
The Gypsy King has signed a deal to face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed fight, which would be thwarted by a defeat to Ngannou.
And with the fight serving as a precursor to Usyk, the pay-per-view price has been elevated. After all, Fury did talk up the fight during their first presser.
“Colossal, colossal event. You got me and Francis Ngannou here, the former UFC (champion). Everyone said he was an idiot for walking away from the UFC and now all of a sudden he’s a genius, isn’t he? Guy’s about to make 10 million dollars, come on! Egg in their face. Francis is going to make that bag, rich,” Fury said
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