Francis Ngannou went from sleeping on the streets to putting heavyweight fighters to sleep

Francis Ngannou was destitute, without a job, without much hope, with not much other than the clothes on his back and a dream in his head. He left his native Cameroon at 26, bound for Paris, with few material possessions but the desire to perhaps one day become the heavyweight champion of the world.

He did that, stopping Stipe Miocic at 52 seconds of the second round on March 27, 2021, in the main event of UFC 260 in Las Vegas. He was thrilled, but it wasn't what the title he truly wanted.

Ngannou grew up in Cameroon dreaming of becoming the next Mike Tyson. He desperately wanted to box, and expressed his desire to Fernand Lopez, a coach at the MMA Factory in Paris. Lopez convinced him to try MMA, and it seemed it was a wise decision. Ngannou was signed to a UFC contract within two years of taking up the sport and won the heavyweight title, MMA's ultimate prize, in his 13th UFC bout.

As pleased as he was, it wasn't what drove him to make the 2,750 mile journey to France, and to suffer the ignominy of sleeping on the streets as he tried to make his way. Years later, as one of the most high-profile stars in MMA, Ngannou still wanted to box, and the UFC's refusal to allow him to do so led him to a bitter split with the promotion.

He made his professional boxing debut on Oct. 28 at age 37 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, when he faced WBC/lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. He dropped Fury with a counter left hook in the third and lost an agonizingly close split decision.

That performance made him one of the hottest names in boxing, and on Friday in Riyadh, he'll face former unified champion Anthony Joshua at Kingdom Arena in a bout that will stream on PPV.com.

"I was in the UFC after two years in the sport and even two years in the sport for me was like, 'Oh, I'm just having fun,' " Ngannou told Sky Sports at the arrival ceremony in Riyadh on Monday. "It wasn't what I really wanted to do. I wanted to do boxing. ... I was in the UFC after two years and I was in the locker room and I said, 'What's the rules again?' They were talking about our resumes and our records, and this guy was this great Olympic wrestler and that guy was this famous black belt in jiu-jitsu. Me, I was basically nothing."

He's something now. 

He fought for the title in his first pro boxing match and is taking on a highly regarded former champion in his second who also happens to have won an Olympic gold medal.

"Incredible story and incredible what he's done," Joshua said of Ngannou.

Ngannou trainer Dewey Cooper chuckled when he was asked if Ngannou had lost the element of surprise he brought into the ring with him against Fury. Fury clearly didn't take the fight all that seriously -- his promoter, the legendary Frank Warren, gentlemanly referred to it Monday as "an off-night" -- and he almost dropped his belt.

Joshua saw that fight and won't be surprised by what Ngannou tries. Cooper, though, said expecting the same fighter Fury saw would be a significant mistake.

"I don't think it's going to affect it at all, because we're better now than we were in that fight," Cooper told KevinIole.com. "The difference in Francis today is so great it's almost hard to put into words. He has learned so much and is so much better. If they're basing what their expectations for this fight and what Francis can or can't do on that 30 minutes in the ring with Fury, good for them. But we're no longer that guy. We are significantly, substantially better in all aspects."

The Fury fight was scheduled for 10 three-minute rounds, and while Ngannou had prepared, and fought, for five, five-minute rounds in MMA, urged Ngannou to pace himself before the first fight. And in the ninth and 10th rounds, when the outcome of the fight hung in the balance, Ngannou connected on two punches in the ninth and four in the 10th.

This time around, both Cooper and Ngannou know that gas tank won't be an issue.

Fury was not only much taller and had a bigger reach than Ngannou, but he had the ability to give different looks. Cooper said Joshua's style is one Ngannou is more familiar with given he's more of a traditional boxer.

"Fury was so multi-dimensional," Cooper said. "He can fight you in several different ways. Joshua is more conventional [He] fights more of a gentleman boxing style. He's a big, British gentleman boxer: Hands up, high guard, tall, gets behind the jab and tries to land the right hand. It's a big right hand, at that.

"What we have to do is not get bored in the fight, first. Then, stay sharp, stay alert and stay focused. After that, the natural athletic ability of Francis will take over and I believe overcome the athletic ability of Joshua."

If he can do that, there could be another massive upset brewing. At DraftKings sports book, Joshua is a -450 favorite, with Ngannou at +320 on the buyback. 

Ngannou believes even though he knows he still hasn't convinced the masses of his rightful place in the sport. And he harkened back to his early days in the UFC, when he heard about all of the accomplishments of the men he was about to face.

"At the end of the day, I don't care what he did," Ngannou told Sky of his theoretical UFC opponent. "He was a man. I am a man and I figured I would win. I had to have that attitude because otherwise I had nothing. I was fighting a guy who was on Olympic team, did all this, blah, blah, blah. But then it worked out for me and it makes you understand that most of the time, the fight is in our head. It's not about technique. I have seen the best technician in combat sports I don't think would be a good fighter because they don't have the heart. You can have all the technique you want, but if you don't have the fight in you, it's going to be hard."

He's proven he has the heart. Whether you thought he won or lost against Fury is immaterial. What he accomplished by going 10 full rounds with the lineal heavyweight boxing champion in his pro debut is beyond belief.

If, as Cooper said, he's added the technique and understanding, well, wow.

All we can say then is, Wow.