It’s a joyous circus. This Saturday in Saudi Arabia, the first trick will be the ring emerging from a 26-foot hole in the ground, and then the real magic will start. Tyson Fury, the unbeaten heavyweight champion of the world, will then appear inside a giant neon beam and, wearing a crown, he will bow to the crowd and the dignitaries. In the opposite corner, as the magic continues, will be Francis Ngannou, a man who has never once fought a boxing match, and under this giant canopy of created rivalry, one of the biggest fights in history will take place. If that is not a “Hey, presto” moment, then I don’t know what is! In front of 20,000 people, including a dozen former heavyweight world champions, and some of the wealthiest men on Earth, the best heavyweight in the boxing world will fight the best heavyweight in the MMA world to see who is the Baddest Man on the Planet. It is a genius, simple and lunatic idea. It is not the first and it will not be the last circus fight involving a legitimate heavyweight boxer. Muhammad Ali had a 15-round bore fest with a wrestler called Antonio Inoki, Rocky Balboa met Hulk Hogan, Chuck Wepner fought Andre the Giant, and Two-Ton Tony Galento knocked out an octopus. I need to point out that the octopus was actually deceased before the first bell. Fury also has a massive advantage in his fight, which will be conducted under the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control, because kicks, chokeholds, headbutts, flying elbows and knees to the head will be banned. In short, Ngannou has had all his tools withdrawn. However, Ngannou has been trained by Mike Tyson, had a crash course in boxing’s darkest arts by the dirtiest fighter in the world, and his punch has been registered as the hardest in history. The science is available to prove just how lethal Ngannou’s right hand is, but even I draw the line somewhere. Fury is a genuine boxing giant and will tower over Ngannou once the anthems, introductions and pleasantries have been conducted by Michael Buffer, the suave voice of boxing. Ngannou will, trust me, shrink once he takes up a traditional boxing pose and his stated height of 6ft 4in will be in the permanent shadow of Fury. And then the beating will start; Fury is a truly vicious man inside the ropes. There are stupid claims that Ngannou has a “puncher’s chance”, which is like saying that any car, on any street, driven by anybody, could have won the F1 in Texas last weekend. Ngannou has no chance of winning and that is fine, but this is still a real fight, it’s just not a competitive one. It is an event and, as I said, we have had hundreds of sanctioned fights like this. The lovers and believers in the MMA dream will be praying to the fighting lords for a miracle; they are both delusional and out of luck. In 2000, Mike Tyson knocked out British heavyweight Julius Francis and the promoter, Frank Warren – who is also promoting the fight on Saturday – spent two months telling people: “This is not a fight, it is an event.” Warren was right and it was a great event. Francis, incidentally, sold the advertising space on the soles of his shoes to a national paper to make a few extra quid. The paper got a bargain. Fury will hold court in a country where the ruling elite know how to hold court. He will be draped in traditional clothing, sip tea from gold urns, have giant kestrels rest on his giant fists and bow respectfully each time he is honoured. It will be a fun circus and Ngannou, with the other Tyson in his face, will prepare like Rocky did in the first movie. It will be a wonderful carnival. There is bold talk of a rematch with Ngannou under MMA rules and that will never happen. On Saturday night, as Mike Tyson tends to Ngannou’s blood-stained face, there will be a cameo in the ring by Oleksandr Usyk, the other heavyweight champion, and a new carnival will start for Fury vs Usyk. What a business. Read More Fury vs Ngannou pay-per-view price revealed ahead of controversial fight Oleksandr Usyk predicts Joshua vs Wilder and makes Tyson Fury revelation Anthony Joshua admits to watching Tyson Fury’s Netflix show: ‘I’m enjoying it’ Anthony Joshua admits to watching Tyson Fury’s Netflix show Tyson Fury’s wife shares impact of boxing on their children: ‘I worry to this day’ Oleksandr Usyk predicts Joshua vs Wilder and makes Tyson Fury revelation

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Gareth Southgate is looking forward to another really good test and “important learning step” as England head to Scotland for their first friendly in 18 months. The Euro 2020 runners-up are among the favourites to win next year’s finals in Germany, which they are within touching distance of despite Saturday’s 1-1 qualification draw against Ukraine. Long-serving Kyle Walker’s first-ever England goal cancelled out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener in front of a yellow and blue wall at the rocking Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland. It felt like a home game despite Ukraine being forced to play away from their homeland due to Russia’s ongoing invasion, leaving Southgate to reflect on an important point and valuable learning experience. The 53-year-old is expecting a similar test when they face in-form Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday evening in England’s first friendly since beating the Ivory Coast at Wembley in March 2022. “We can have everybody in the squad involved for the next one,” Southgate said after 16 successive competitive matches, covering last year’s Nations League campaign, the 2022 World Cup and this qualifying campaign. “We’ll assess everybody over there over the next 24 to 48 hours because it’s another really good test. “Another hostile environment, a team that are playing really well. “You know, they’re in great form, full of confidence so it’s another important learning step for us.” The nations last faced one another in June 2021, when they played out a hard-fought 0-0 draw at Wembley in the European Championship group stage. Scotland, like England, are on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s Euros, with Friday’s 3-0 triumph in Cyprus extending their outstanding winning start in Group A to a fifth match. Southgate’s side do not head into the friendly on the same high having failed to click against Ukraine, after which James Maddison said it was important to dig in and take a point if the attack is not firing. “James would be one that won’t have played in an England game like that in the past,” the England manager said. “Marc (Guehi), Chilly [Ben Chilwell] wouldn’t have played a huge number of those games for us either. “So, the only way to learn and grow as a team is to have those sorts of experiences. “To go behind in a game like that is a challenge, but we stayed calm. “I’m not so sure it was a case of digging in because I think we were in control of the game. “But we had to defend some counter-attack moments and a couple of set plays well. “And, yeah, without a doubt, to go through that sort of experience is good learning for several of the players. “I think on a night like this the experienced players were really important for the team and I thought they all did a very, very good job.” Southgate rued too many turnovers and a lack of attacking fluency on Saturday night, when skipper Harry Kane took it upon himself to spark England into life. Ukraine stood off the striker and watched him fire an exceptional diagonal ball from just outside the centre circle over Vitaliy Mykolenko to put in Walker to score. “In the end, it was difficult for all of the forward players to find space between Ukraine’s midfield and defence,” Southgate said. “I thought they did that as a team very well. “I thought occasionally we were coming too deep outside of the block, but when you do that, if you’ve got players with that range of passing, then it’s an alternative way of breaking them down. “The important thing was as he was dropping, Kyle making the run he did. “He’s got outstanding vision but also technical quality to make those passes.”

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