Francis Ngannou. A true inspiration in following your dreams.
As a child Francis dreamt of being boxing champion of the world. He had a poster of his childhood idol Mike Tyson in his room. But that was a world away.
He was raised in severe poverty in rural Cameroon. A quiet, shy outsider who was estranged from his family at a young age.
When he returned to his Mum’s village at the age of ten he started working at a sand quarry to pay his school fees. Hot, hard, heavy work.
But he had that dream. Heavy weight boxing champion of the world. Except there was no boxing gym in his village. He moved to the city and between heavy labour jobs was training at the boxing gym. But it wasn’t big enough for his dreams.
He set off on the migrant trail to Europe, was arrested in the desert, picked up on a stranded dinghy in the Med and ended up homeless in Paris.
And here’s the measure of the man. When I visited him in Cameroon a couple of year back he told me ending up homeless in Paris was the happiest moment in his life. He knew everything was possible. He was in Europe. He had a chance.
Long story short, he shot through the UFC rankings in record time and reached the pinnacle of the mixed martial arts (MMA) world. He beat arguably the best heavywieght champion of all time, Stipe Miocic. Within six incredibly short years from the first time he stepped into the Octogan Francis Ngannou had become the heavyweight UFC champion.
But that wasn’t enough. He didn’t like the way the UFC were mugging him off and not paying him his dues, so he left.
And then last night he delivered the boxing world one of the biggest shocks in a generation.
He fought in an exhibition match against the undisputed heavyweight world champ, Tyson Fury. Everyone thought it would be a bit of big money showmanship. A circus.
Fury is one of the best and most experienced fighters in the game. Ngannou by contrast has no professional boxing bouts to his name.
Wow, how Ngannou proved everyone wrong. He floored Tyson Fury in round three and boxed a superb fight to the end. He may have lost in a very controversial split decision but the shoeless, timid kid from Cameroon has kicked in the doors to the boxing world and demanded a seat at the top table.
When Francis Ngannou was a child in Cameroon everyone thought he was crazy to dream of becoming a world famous boxer.
God bless those who dare to dream the impossible.