Francis Ngannou shocked the world with his performance against Tyson Fury on October 28, 2023, in the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. The former UFC Heavyweight champion was making his boxing debut against an undefeated WBC Heavyweight champion. Triumph was a Herculean task for Ngannou, however, he came as close to it as possible.
Ngannou dominated the opening rounds. He drew first blood from Fury’s forehead in the second round with a strong left hand. In the third round, he went a notch further and knocked him down. The Cameroonian became only the third boxer to knock Fury down. By the looks of it, Ngannou was on the way to becoming the first boxer to defeat Fury.
After some evenly matched rounds following the knockdown, most people believed Ngannou would bag the win via a decision. The judges, on the other hand, had a different idea. Fury won via a split decision as the judges scored the bout 94-95, 96-93, and 95-94. Moreover, fans were also disappointed that the post-fight press conference was canceled.
#FuryNgannou result: Tyson Fury defeats Francis Ngannou via split decision (94-95, 96-93, 95-94) pic.twitter.com/xeRZYQX9Oi
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) October 28, 2023
Ngannou did give a post-fight interview to ESPN. He explained how going southpaw seemed to be Fury’s Kryptonite. He said, “Basically, when I was changing to southpaw, he wasn’t doing anything. When I wanted to rest, I switched to southpaw, and he not doing anything. I realized that he was having a struggle right there at that moment.”
The MMA fighter revealed that he could have gone for knockout punches but did not want to get carried away. Instead, he fought strategically in the latter rounds to last the distance. He said, “If the knockout came, it came; if not, we were prepared to go the distance and fight to a decision.”
Francis Ngannou claims he is going to come back stronger after boxing debut against Tyson Fury
During his in-ring post-fight interview, Ngannou was upbeat about his performance. He claimed he was nervous coming into it but now he is here. Ngannou said, “At first I was a little nervous, now I know I can do this s***. The wolf is in the house. Tonight was to feel the water, and now I know the temperature.”
👀 @Francis_Ngannou wants to run it back with Tyson Fury.
How about you? 🤔#FuryNgannou pic.twitter.com/gcxC058Ud6
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) October 29, 2023
Ngannou’s training camp was not as long as he would have wanted it to be. However, he did not want to make any excuses as he fought valiantly. He further said, “I am feeling great, fantastic. It didn’t go my way, I might be beaten today, I might be wounded, but I can bite. We can run it back again, and I’m sure I’m gonna get better. This was my first boxing match, great experience.”
Fury, on the other hand, has a different competitor to worry about for now. The undefeated British boxer confirmed that he will be going up against Oleksandr Usyk next. The fight is slated to be scheduled for December 2023 or January 2024.