How would Francis Ngannou have fared if he had come to boxing instead?

If you know much about Ngannou, you'll know that MMA was something he never had planned. He dreamt of becoming a boxer ever since he was a kid. Mike Tyson was his idol. When he finally arrived in France from Cameroon, after a truly incredible and dangerous journey, it was an MMA coach who noticed him and convinced him to switch to MMA. Ngannou didn't even know what it was at first.

Now, Ngannou in the UFC was looked on and almost mocked at times, the same way Deontay Wilder was in boxing, for not having, or at least not showing much actual skill and just knocking everyone out with his wild windmills. His only two losses were on points when he couldn't find that KO. But in the end, it worked out for him and he became a champion.

The difference I believe between Ngannou and Wilder, is that Wilder doesn't come across as the most intelligent guy, and clearly couldn't, or simply refused to try and fight a different way. Whereas Ngannou has always seemed eager to learn, and is good at taking in information. His ground game in MMA got better and better, despite knowing nothing about it at first, and in his last two MMA fights, he started using it to very good effect.

I really didn't expect him to look so impressive in his boxing debut against Fury. Yes, Fury was poor, but it wasn't just that. I was convinced that Ngannou would just go in there throwing wild windmill punches, like I'd often watched him do in the UFC, and it would turn out to be an easy night's work for Fury. I thought he would walk into something while doing so, or Fury would comfortably outbox him. But he actually showed some real skill, skill I'd never seen him show before. Again, proof that he is a very good learner.

I'm sure he doesn't regret doing MMA in the slightest, as it made him who he is, a UFC champion. He might have never got the fights with Fury and Joshua if he'd gone the conventional route. But how do you guys think he may have gotten on? If Wilder had got so far with one trick, could Ngannou have done the same, or possibly done even better? Although I will say, I don't think Ngannou hits as hard as Wilder. Ngannou's power was no doubt made more possible due to the fact he wore MMA gloves. But anyway, tell me what you guys think.

 

Because of one KO? From one of the hardest punchers around? And it took 3 shots to put him out properly. And that was probably due to being a novice and not knowing how to defend himself properly. I don't think he got knocked down once in the UFC, not that I remember anyway, and that was when fighting 205+ lb guys with smaller gloves. I don't understand why one KO constitutes a glass jaw.

 

Hmm, I see my post got moved to the MMA forum. To be honest, though we're talking about an MMA fighter, he's had two boxing matches, and the question is still about boxing, haha.