{"id":295133,"date":"2023-10-28T04:08:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T04:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=295133"},"modified":"2023-10-28T04:08:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T04:08:46","slug":"cristiano-ronaldo-leads-the-famous-faces-at-pre-fury-ngannou-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/boxing\/cristiano-ronaldo-leads-the-famous-faces-at-pre-fury-ngannou-gala\/","title":{"rendered":"Cristiano Ronaldo leads the famous faces at pre-Fury-Ngannou gala"},"content":{"rendered":"
Several famous faces have descended on Saudi Arabia for Tyson Fury’s ‘Battle of the Baddest’ crossover fight against Francis Ngannou.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, his former Manchester United team-mate Rio Ferdinand was also in attendance at the gala.<\/p>\n
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Cristiano Ronaldo was one famous face at the gala ahead of Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou<\/p>\n
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His former Man United team-mate Rio Ferdinand was also seen in attendance in Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n
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The Brazilian Ronaldo was pictured with Mike Tyson, who has trained Ngannou for this fight<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Tyson was pictured with the Brazilian Ronaldo, with the footballing legend currently keeping himself busy as owner and chairman of Spanish second tier side\u00a0Real Valladolid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oleksandr Usyk – who signed a contract last month for an undisputed world heavyweight title battle later this year with Fury\u00a0– was at the event too and exchanged an unexpected embrace with Fury during the night.<\/p>\n
Many other boxing stars were also pictured, including former light-welterweight and welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Brit is now a promoter and trainer and his son Campbell fights at lightweight professionally.<\/p>\n
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Former British boxer Ricky Hatton had also flown over to Saudi Arabia to catch the bout<\/p>\n
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Oleksandr Usyk was there and shared unexpected embrace with Fury ahead of their fight<\/p>\n
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Iconic American rapper Eminem looked unrecognisable as he posed together with Ngannou<\/p>\n
Legendary US rapper Eminem could also be seen to be enjoying himself as he posed for photos with Ngannou.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n