Francis Ngannou lands top ten WBC ranking following Tyson Fury ten-rounder

Francis Ngannou has landed himself a top ten WBC ranking in the heavyweight division, after going the full ten rounds with Tyson fury when the pair clashed in Saudi Arabia last month.

The former UFC champion made his pro debut against arguably one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time in Fury (34-0-1) shocking the world by knocking down the 'Gypsy king' in the third round.

Despite seemingly getting the better of Fury over the course of thirty minutes, the 37-year-old Cameroonian would not see his hand raised at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, in a narrow split decision loss.

And even if he had have won on the official scorecards, Fury's WBC title was not on the line due to the fact that Ngannou was not ranked by the body going into the fight.

However, that has today changed, with the World Boxing Council announcing that he will slot into the heavyweight rankings at number 10. Deontay Wilder currently sits at number one in the very same hierarchy, followed by Anthony Joshua in second.

Fury will now move on to an undisputed heavyweight championship clash against foe Oleksandr Usyk, earmarked for February 17. In which, the Ukrainian will put his WBA, WBO and IBF belts on the line in return for Fury's WBC strap.

Ngannou meanwhile is signed to the Professional Fighters League, hopeful of making his grand debut with the up and coming MMA organisation at some point next year.

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether he will fight again in boxing prior to this - while a crossover promotion in mixed martial arts against Jon Jones all but ruled out by UFC boss Dana White over the weekend.

Speaking at the UFC 295 post fight press conference with regards to the clash of titans, White said: "No I'm not interested in that fight. We tried to make that fight - they didn't want to do it and it's done.

"He doesn't fight here anymore. I'm not interested."

He added: "I tried to make the fight here, they didn't want to do it - but I should co-promote with like a Bellator or a PFL? Why should I do that? Talk to me," before capping off with: "you win the dumb question of the night, congratulations sir."