Francis Ngannou has perhaps overcome adversity to triumph against all the odds life stacked against him more than any other fighting champion in history. 

It is one of the reasons the softly-spoken, hard-punching powerhouse is adored by fans and there has been such an outpouring of sympathy at the heartbreaking news that his 15-month old son, Kobe, has died.

Posting on Instagram, Ngannou, 37, said: ‘Too soon to leave but yet he’s gone. My little boy, my mate, my partner Kobe was full of life and joy. Now, he’s laying without life. I shouted his name over and over but he’s not responding.

‘I was my best self next to him and now I have no clue of who I am. Life is so unfair to hit us where it hurts the most. How do you deal with such a thing? How can you live with it? Please help me if you have an idea because I really don’t know what to do and how to deal with this.’

It is the most tragic, darkest day of Ngannou’s extraordinary life of hardship and triumph, a story that deserves retelling.

Francis Ngannou’s 15-year-old son, Kobe, has tragically died, the fighter confirmed

He grew up in Cameroon and was forced to walk six miles to school before later leaving the country in pursuit of becoming a fighter

Ngannou’s profession was digging sand mines before a tortuous journey attempting to emigrate from Africa to Spain – here he reminds himself of the graft he put in as a 10-year-old having returned to his homeland as UFC champion

Ngannou (right) has had lucrative fights with Tyson Fury (left) and Anthony Joshua

Having grown up in the Cameroonian village of Batie and raised by a single mother, Ngannou was forced to walk six miles to go to school every day and was digging sand mines when he was just 10 years old.

As he got older he made the journey from Cameroon to the north of the continent – travelling through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria before reaching Morocco while packed into pick-up trucks driving through the desert.

It was there that he was able to emigrate to Spain by water – but not before being forced to live in Moroccan forests and eat food from bins while he prepared to cross the border.

Once he made it to Spain, he was seized upon by police and put into a detention centre for two months before he was released and snuck his way onto a train to France – knowing that police controls were much more tight in the UK.

It was a harrowing journey to mainland Europe and Ngannou previously told the Guardian: ‘Every single step you took, it was tough. And then the next one was tougher. And then you find yourself at some place and there’s no way back. You’re trapped in your own dream.

‘You get to some places and just see a bunch of skeletons. You don’t even need an explanation because you are in the same situation,’ he said. ‘If your car breaks down, it’s over. If you fall off the back of the truck, it’s over.

Ngannou was convinced to leave boxing behind before being signed by the UFC in 2015

Ngannou regularly goes back home where he is hero-worshipped by his countrymen

‘You’re s****ing yourself; you’re scared. You’re going into the ocean with this little boat that people use in swimming pools,” he said. ‘You’re seeing these violent waves and you’re like “Man, I might not make it. This might be it.” But what else can you do?’

Ngannou later settled in Paris but ended up sleeping in a car park as he began looking for a boxing gym – and eventually met trainer Fernand Lopez, who would convince him to take up MMA instead of boxing.

Speaking to the Sun, Ngannou discussed his experience of living in Paris as he said: ‘I never really wanted to become an MMA fighter.’

‘I went to France five years ago and at that time I wanted to be a boxer because I did a little bit of boxing at home (in Cameroon). It was difficult because I didn’t know anybody in France, I didn’t have any money so I was sleeping on the streets without money and trying to survive like that and that was difficult.

‘For me I just started in MMA for fun. I had time to train so I thought why not train MMA as well.

‘And then things went very fast and they start asking did I want to fight. And I said ‘Yes let’s do it’.

‘I didn’t realise how fast it was going until the coach said to me ‘We’ve got a UFC contract for you’.’

Ngannou was raised by a single mother in Cameroon and is eager to give back to his country

He realised a dream by becoming heavyweight champ after a KO win over Stipe Miocic in 2021

The pay he was able to bring home made an enormous difference back home to his family.

He previously wrote on Instagram: ‘As a kid growing up in a sand mine, the biggest dream alive in that environment is to become a truck driver and better yet, a truck owner as they are on-top of the chain of command in a sand business.

‘My older brother is a mechanic and he also learned how to drive trucks while I was doing everything in my power to become a world class boxer.

‘After a few MMA fights and three in the UFC, my savings was just enough to buy this old truck for about $30k so my brother who back then was unemployed can drive and provide for the family with it while I keep hustling out here to make more. And I bought the truck in October 2016 and I was happy to satisfy one of my childhood dreams.

‘But what made me happiest – and I almost teared up – were those pictures with my mom in front of the truck smiling as her suffering was about to end for real and she’s seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. At that exact moment, even though I was out of money and my utilities couldn’t go through until my next paycheck from my fight in Albany 12/9/2016, I felt like I made it.

Ngannou’s mother is pictured in front of the truck he bought his brother after three UFC fights

He eventually made his way to Paris, where he was forced to sleep in a car park before being offered a chance to train in an MMA gym

Ngannou left the UFC as one of their biggest stars, a move the organisation may regret

‘My former coworkers were loading truck and my sister was playing around throwing sand into it, it was a turning point for my family.’

The rest, as they say, is history. Ngannou got signed by the UFC in 2015 before becoming their heavyweight champion in 2021 by knocking out Stipe Miocic.

But Ngannou wasn’t done there. Becoming the champion of his division wasn’t enough, not when he felt the UFC weren’t maximising his potential – after previously hitting out at the organisation for ‘ripping off’ fighters.

So he took the power into his own hands and left the UFC, signing an expansive multi-fight deal with the PFL on a flexible contract that allows him to venture into other lucrative avenues.

‘In the past two years I’ve fought twice and then I have to borrow money to live!’ he said in September 2022.

Ngannou looks reflective as he goes back to his old village in Cameroon

‘Nobody cares about that. I have no guarantee in that year and I have no protection so based on that experience I want to get something better on my contract and obviously what I deserve.’

The cash has rolled in ever since, now that Ngannou is free set up as many mega fights as he chooses and build his own personal brand, though he is in a more difficult position having been well beaten by Joshua.

A return to MMA for his PFL debut is likely to be his next move later this year, or he may take more time off to grieve. Ngannou’s story is an incredible one, making the loss of his young boy, just as he’d secured a life free of the hardships of his upbringing, all the most gut-wrenching.