Mauricio Sulaimán, President of the World Boxing Council (WBC), believes that Francis Ngannou fully deserves his place in the WBC rankings.
On 28 October in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Francis Ngannou lost by split decision to Tyson Fury. For many observers, it was the ‘Predator’ who was expected to emerge victorious from the fight. The Cameroonian held his own for 10 rounds, and even sent the Briton to the mat (see the fight summary). Even Tyson Fury’s father admitted that he didn’t recognise his son.
Mauricio Sulaimán, President of the World Boxing Council (WBC), was impressed by Francis Ngannou’s performance. The former UFC heavyweight champion entered the WBC rankings in 10th place.
Mauricio Sulaiman praises Francis Ngannou
Speaking to Sky Sports, Mauricio Sulaiman said that the decision to classify Ngannou was within the rules:
“First of all, it is based on the rules. The WBC rules on ranking criteria have many parameters: record, activity, level of opposition and other issues, including activity in amateur boxing, Olympic boxing or any other contact sport. We have ranked many Thai fighters who have had a successful career in muay Thai or Thai boxing and have gone on to box professionally.”
He continued: “Ngannou’s entry into the rankings is within the rules. But who in their right mind could object to Ngannou being ranked? He took down Tyson, the best current heavyweight champion in boxing, and he lost by split decision to the champion. So who can object to that? It’s only to create controversy. If they see it’s within the rules and they see the performance he put in, there’s no controversy about putting him 10th in the rankings.”
“It was incredible. He’s got a big chin, a huge chin, huge punching power and he was very clean. He boxed. We were worried he was going to get into mixed martial arts tactics. No, he put up an extraordinary fight. He’s humble and he works hard. I’m very proud of the WBC’s decision.
For the moment, Francis Ngannou has no fights lined up in either boxing or MMA. However, the ‘Predator’ has made it clear that he wants a rematch with Tyson Fury.
Do you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman?
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