Former UFC fighter Francis Ngannou has been ranked No. 10 in the heavyweight division by the World Boxing Council (WBC) on Wednesday following a split decision loss to champion Tyson Fury in his professional boxing debut last month.
Ngannou, 37, faced Fury in a nontitle bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 28 and narrowly lost after scoring a third round knockdown against the undefeated WBC champion.
The WBC took the rare decision to award a ranking to a boxer with no professional wins at their 2023 convention.
The Cameroon French fighter transitioned from mixed martial arts to boxing after the UFC released its heavyweight champion in January following unsuccessful contract negotiations.
One judge scored it 95-94 for Ngannou but was overruled by tallies of 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury. Fury’s WBC heavyweight title wasn’t on the line in the 10-round boxing match. Ngannou was making his pro boxing debut in his first fight since January 2022.
England’s Fury was installed as a -1400 favorite to win the match. He moves on to an undisputed heavyweight championship fight against Oleksandr Usyk despite arguably his worst performance against Ngannou.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.