When Francis Ngannou encountered the renowned football player Cristiano Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia in the spring of this year, he was overwhelmed with admiration.
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A star-studded crowd is expected as former UFC star Ngannou and Tyson Fury take to the ring in Riyadh. The event will be attended by renowned figures of boxing such as Mike Tyson, the legendary Lennox Lewis, and the undefeated Floyd Mayweather. Additionally, the heavyweight champion of the world, Oleksandr Usyk is expected to attend the event in pursuit of a potential unification match with Tyson Fury in the near future.
It is not only the boxing community that is excited by the potential for a crossover match-up between Tyson Fury and Ngannou. Football’s five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo – who plays for Saudi club Al Nassr – has been a big supporter of the fight, and Ngannou in particular.
In the run-up to the fight, Ronaldo sent a watch to Ngannou as a ‘good luck’ gesture.
Ngannou’s chance encounter
The pair first met earlier this year and the boxer revealed details about the meeting to TNT Sports. “We were sitting at the Four Seasons Hotel, which is where he [Ronaldo] was living at the time. We met one of his guys named Richie. [He said] ‘Actually, Cristiano is a big fan of Francis.’
“Then he called Cristiano and he said ‘bring them up.’ They were in the pool and I’m like, even when I was going up, I hope this guy is not messing with me,” he said.
“Then we get up there and saw Cristiano and he was basically waiting on us and I was quite surprised. It’s Cristiano, right?”
“We shake hands, we greet each other, like, ‘Hey, what’s up’ and he was very cool, very familiar at the same time.”
“He was telling me stuff about me and how him and his family, they watch my fight at 4 a.m. I’m like, man, you don’t know who really watches you. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t know me! But he knows me pretty good,” Ngannou added.
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