Francis Ngannou, arguably the most dangerous man in the world when it comes to combat sports. Out of the 8 billion people on the planet, there is perhaps not a single one of them that could beat him in a fair fight. With the ability to throw a punch that has the same amount of horsepower as a family car, he never fails to remain humble, calm and stoic, keeping his ego under control, even when facing off with opponents that have given him non-stop verbal abuse for months leading up to a fight. Never failing to show respect to even his worst enemy.
Even when doubted by everyone leading up to his most recent fight with Tyson Fury. Criticised for only being a power puncher, and not a boxer. Having only fought MMA, and never a professional boxing match. You can see why people did doubt him, as he entered the ring with the current greatest heavyweight boxer alive, for his boxing debut?! Whether or not he considers himself a stoic, he displays multiple characteristics of the most profound stoics across history, making him one himself. This is an idea the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus, who lived almost 2,000 years ago, calls the dichotomy of control, being one of the most core practises in stoicism today. It is the idea that there are two kinds of things. Things that are in your control, and things that are not. If something is not in your control, you shouldn’t worry, or complain about it. Because what’s the point? You can’t do anything to about it anyway, in Ngannou’s case, the thing that he could not control, was the amount of training Tyson Fury did to prepare, and most importantly, the judges decision at the end of the match, as boxing has become some what corrupt. Whilst he can influence their decision, he does not have full control over it. Then the things that you can control, you should not complain or worry about either, as you can control them. It is in your ability to alter them in whatever way you want. In this case, it was the amount of training Francis decided to do, how hard he wanted to train and how he would react to the outcome of the match. Francis clearly demonstrates this stoic principle as he says that he has done all the preparation he could for his fights, and he will also perform at his highest level on the day. But outside of that, he sees no use in worrying. Whatever happens, happens at that point. He is not in control of it.
Unfortunately, his fight with Tyson Fury, ended in a split decision loss, which was highly controversial as outside of the judging panel, it is pretty unanimous that he himself should have won the fight. Whether it was corrupt boxing politics or not, Francis in his post fight ring interview, took the defeat graciously, as a stoic would, knowing that he can’t change their decision anyway, leaving no need to abandon his virtues by throwing a temper tantrum, like others may have. Despite Francis believing he should have won, his post fight interview went like this instead. Expressing his gratitude for the opportunity that Tyson Fury gave him and showing admirable sportsmanship, not letting arrogance steer his ego, in a way that would muddy his character, despite it being a big upset that the decision was made for him to lose. Someone’s virtue, being the thing of highest importance to any person, according to stoics. A principle that has remained unchanged since the start of stoicism in 300 AD, to now. In a later interview, he says that he believed he should have won, but remains calm, never getting angry or annoyed. Maintaining his cool, collected tone of voice.
Francis has gone through a journey to the top so extreme and unlikely, that it deserves to be made into a film. Enduring so much adversity trying to leave Cameroon, his birth place, that the scale of it cannot be given sufficient justice in a single video. Being brought up with an abusive father, made to work in a sand mine for 7 years, starting at the age of 10. As he had to in order to eat and afford some form of education. He often didn’t even have a pen to write with during school, often leaving class early out of hunger, from lack of food that got made worse by all the manual labour he would be doing whenever he was not in school.
During rain seasons in Cameroon, where conditions got so bad, that many people periodically stopped working, Francis however, would take this as an opportunity to get more work, filling in for the people that were less desperate. And when he decided to try and escape Cameroon, he needed money he didn’t have, to be able to make the trip, forcing him to sell his bike, which was effectively his livelihood at the time, using it to work as a taxi driver. Risking everything getting rid of it. Despite his lack of money, he made sure to give his sister part of his savings before he left on his tireless, 14 month journey, that entailed climbing walls that would end in him being entangled in barbed wire, crossing large bodies of water in an inflatable boat with no oars, having to swallow his money so it wouldn’t get stolen, and much more. To then finally be able to arrive as an illegal immigrant in Paris, with no money, food or possessions. Forcing him to sleep in a parking lot during a cold fall in 2013. However, he did not complain, and never understood why Westerners would always complain about their life, when it was so free and filled with opportunity. And despite being homeless, Francis described this time, as one of the best moments in his life, and said he was very happy to just be in Paris, have his own life and chase his dreams. He didn’t mind living on the street, it didn’t bother him. In fact, he said that compared to what he was used to, it was like a 5 star hotel. He was able to register for some free food as he had no income, along with being able to talk his way into getting a free membership to a fighting gym at the age of 27, as the owner expressed sympathy towards him given his situation and aspirations. This was crucial for him, as the reason he left Cameroon, was to pursue his dream of becoming a boxer after watching Mike Tyson, on the rare occasion he was able to access YouTube. He was used to, and comfortable with an acetic life, like many of the stoics before him. His purpose was in fighting, not material possessions.
4 months after training in the gym, he had his first pro fight in MMA. As he decided to make the switch from boxing, as it meant he could gain a reliable stream of income sooner. He earned two grand in this fight. Which to him, was a massive amount of money. Later leading to a contract with the UFC. Allowing him to start sending money home to his family in Cameroon, as he dominated the UFC heavy weight division. Yet, even though he now earns millions with each fight he has, he hasn’t let money corrupt him. Setting up the Francis Ngannou foundation, which had previously been completely personally funded by himself for 6 years, but has now opened up to external funding, so they can have an international impact. The foundation has improved education resources in African schools, along with opening up multiple martial art gyms in Cameroon, offering the facilities he wished he had had when he lived there as a young boy. I will leave the link to the site in the description of this video if you want to take a look.
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Alongside the Francis Ngannou foundation, he also negotiated for his opponents to get a minimum pay of 2 million dollars for each fight. This way, someone that has less money than him can get proper doctors, nutritionists and trainers 24/7 like he can. Allowing for a fairer fight. And at the end of the day, he says that it takes 2 people to make a fight happen, and doesn’t want to be someone that just takes all the money for himself because he is the more popular fighter.
A gratitude practise used by stoics is to imagine losing something that you otherwise take for granted, allowing you to find pleasure in the more mundane aspects of life. An example used by the modern stoic, William Irvine, is to close your eyes for a few seconds. And then imagine yourself attempting to open your eyes again, but being unable to, and it remaining like this forever, making you no longer able to see. Whilst like this, think about how upset you would feel, and how much of a bad situation it will put you in. And then, open your eyes, and you will now feel relief and gratitude for the ability you have to see again. Francis Ngannou has a similar practise. He will often fly back to Cameroon to visit his family every so often. And whilst he is there, he will always go to the places he despised so much, like the sand mines. Remembering how he hated his life so much back then, and all the terrible things he had been put through. Leaving him often in disbelief by how cruel the world was to him, not that long ago. Whilst this may sound like a depressing thing to do. Francis liked to do it, to remind him of how far he has come, and how many things he has to be grateful for. Putting his current problems in perspective, seeing that they are really very small compared to what he is used to.
Francis decided to not do the things that would take him away from being a better boxer. The same way one of the earliest stoics, by the name of Chrysippus, would spend the majority of his time writing and giving lectures about stoicism, being known for even rejecting invitations from kings, as he thought that it would only distract him from the work that gave him meaning. The same way Francis does not feel the need to go out and party all the time, like someone else might do, if they had just accumulated as much wealth as he had in such a short period of time. However, Francis, like a stoic would, placed lesser value on external things, focusing more on internal fulfilment, which for him, is martial arts.
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