Tony Ferguson Keeps His Boxing Title With a Second-Round KO in Miami

Tony Ferguson still has knockout power in his hands, even in a boxing ring. On Saturday at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, the former UFC interim lightweight champion defended his Misfits Boxing middleweight belt with a second-round stoppage of late replacement Mahmood Sebie, salvaging a wild co-main event that swung both ways before he closed the show.

It wasn't the fight Ferguson signed up for. He was booked against ex-footballer Kenzo Biyong, but Biyong pulled out days before the card, and Sebie — a former Olympic wrestler turned MMA fighter — stepped in. Given how Ferguson's combat sports career has gone lately (he's 26-11 in MMA and hadn't strung together anything resembling momentum in years), a boxing win, however messy, counts.

How It Played Out

Ferguson controlled the opening round behind his pressure and jab, then nearly ended it early — a sharp right hand dropped Sebie in the closing seconds. Sebie beat the count, and the second round flipped the script fast. He came out and hurt Ferguson almost immediately, putting El Cucuy on the back foot and looking like he might steal the fight.

He couldn't finish, and that was the ball game. Ferguson recomposed, trapped Sebie in the corner and unloaded until the referee stepped in to wave it off. Two rounds, two near-finishes, one belt retained.

The Bigger Picture

Ferguson was refreshingly blunt afterward, saying he didn't really know what he'd just watched either. He revealed he lost his mother a couple of months ago and admitted he'd been fighting through a fog, describing the whole thing as a dream-like state. He promised that version of himself won't show up when Austin McBroom — who climbed into the ring to line up a title clash — actually gets the fight.

The card was headlined by Henry Cejudo's Misfits debut. The former two-division UFC champ (16-6 in MMA, coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Payton Talbott) is the bigger name, but Ferguson's chaotic, emotional win was the story worth telling. His UFC run may be effectively over. His second act, apparently, is only getting started.