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Cristiano Ronaldo leads the famous faces at the gala dinner ahead of Tyson Fury’s Battle of the Baddest fight against Francis Ngannou – with iconic rapper Eminem and Rio Ferdinand also in attendance in Saudi Arabia

  • Tyson Fury is set to take on Francis Ngannou in a crossover bout on Saturday
  • Several famous faces from across the globe attended the pre-fight gala dinner 
  • LISTEN: Exclusive Tyson Fury interview on THE HOOK – our new boxing podcast  

Several famous faces have descended on Saudi Arabia for Tyson Fury’s ‘Battle of the Baddest’ crossover fight against Francis Ngannou.

The Gypsy King and former MMA star are set to do battle on Saturday night in Riyadh in one of the most eagerly-anticipated bouts of the year.

And on the eve of Fury-Ngannou, a gala dinner was held on Friday where several celebrities and big names from across the sporting world were pictured together.

Cristiano Ronaldo – who relocated to Saudi Arabia last year when he joined Al-Nassr – was the biggest name and he was pictured mingling backstage with Fury.

Meanwhile, his former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand was also in attendance at the gala.

Cristiano Ronaldo was one famous face at the gala ahead of Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou

His former Man United team-mate Rio Ferdinand was also seen in attendance in Saudi Arabia

The Brazilian Ronaldo was pictured with Mike Tyson, who has trained Ngannou for this fight

Mike Tyson has been coaching Ngannou in the build-up to his bout with Fury and the former boxer was another guest at the gala.

Tyson was pictured with the Brazilian Ronaldo, with the footballing legend currently keeping himself busy as owner and chairman of Spanish second tier side Real Valladolid. 

Oleksandr Usyk – who signed a contract last month for an undisputed world heavyweight title battle later this year with Fury – was at the event too and exchanged an unexpected embrace with Fury during the night.

Many other boxing stars were also pictured, including former light-welterweight and welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton. 

The Brit is now a promoter and trainer and his son Campbell fights at lightweight professionally.

Former British boxer Ricky Hatton had also flown over to Saudi Arabia to catch the bout

Oleksandr Usyk was there and shared unexpected embrace with Fury ahead of their fight

Iconic American rapper Eminem looked unrecognisable as he posed together with Ngannou

Legendary US rapper Eminem could also be seen to be enjoying himself as he posed for photos with Ngannou.

However, the now 51-year-old looked unrecognisable from his heyday in the spotlight as he wore a cap and appeared to now be sporting a ponytail.

Many more famous faces are expected to be in attendance tomorrow night, with Fury and Ngannou’s ringwalks expected at around 10:30PM after a packed undercard.


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