Ngannou landed one final hammerfist before referee Herb Dean could get between them to stop the contest. It was a great win for Ngannou, a gentle giant and likable person outside the cage. By now, most fight fans are familiar with his life story , which includes a period of homelessness on the streets of Paris. He's an easy guy to root for. He's all terror in the cage, however, one of those fighters who gives you a sense of impending doom. This is his 12th professional knockout win, with 10 of those coming in the UFC.
Now, no one is saying Ngannou is somehow a better champion than Miocic or anyone else. That would be a silly thing to think. But for sheer scariness in terms of what he can do in the cage, Ngannou's the guy. Any time soon. If it's summer, I will be here, ready to fight, in July or August. Miocic is still the greatest UFC heavyweight ever.
He could well win a rubber match. Ngannou, though, was probably the baddest man on the planet even before Saturday. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox! Your sports. Join Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter email. After laying siege to the division on the way up, only WBC champion Trevor Berbick stood in the way of him becoming the youngest heavyweight title-holder in history at just 20 years old.
Even those with only a passing interest in boxing will have seen famous footage of the tall, rangy Berbick tumbling over backwards and then forwards as he tried to clamber to his feet after being felled in the second round. But few will have noticed a boxing oddity - both men were wearing plain, jet black shorts.
It was about as subtle as those old cowboy films where the bad guy rode into town wearing a black hat. But, as champion, Berbick had the first choice so Dundee tried to play a little mind game.
Tyson paid the fine rather than change his colour. As ever, he had entered the ring with no robe. He was stripped, sweating and ready to go. Tyson was no fills, no fuss and took no steps back. He stalked the canvas during the pre-fight announcements like a coiled spring, eyeing his opponent with malevolence.
This man was a specialist in violence and, in the early days, he plied his trade to perfection. His pre-fight press conferences were sometimes angry and monosyllabic, other times articulate and lucid. His lisp had been a taunt for playground bullies, now it was his trademark. While other fighters likened themselves to Ali, he talked of Sonny Liston, a similarly powerful fighter yet damaged individual that boxing had tried hard to forget. In the next two years, Tyson would demolish the division.
Soon, Tyson had all three major belts and, so the theory went, a more mobile challenger was needed. Unbeaten Michael Spinks had achieved the same treble at light-heavyweight and was regarded as the lineal heavyweight champion having taken the title from Larry Holmes and never lost it in the ring.
By , he was considered the biggest test yet for Tyson. But, when they met, the champion had prepared the most intimidating ring walk of all time.
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