Tyson Fury survived a third-round knockdown and avoided a massive upset with a split-decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in a 10-round main event at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury may have escaped with the win Ngannou — who made his professional boxing debut — ended up being the real winner by shocking the world with his performance.
He was given no chance to beat the undefeated WBC heavyweight champion Fury. But Ngannou bet on himself when nobody else would, dropped Fury and came as close as anyone has come to beating the champion. Two judges scored it in favor of Fury with scores of 96-93 and 95-94 while a third judge had it for Ngannou with a 95-94 score.
Fortunately for Fury, he escaped with the win and his undisputed heavyweight championship fight with Oleksandr Usyk was salvaged. However, the proposed date for December 23 may be in doubt as neither Fury nor promoter Frank Warren would confirm the date.
And that heavyweight megafight came this close to blowing up in their face.
It was expected to be a spectacle with very little substance and turned out to be an event that will be talked about for a long time.
A bevy of early undercard knockouts and an expensive opening ceremony where the ring emerged from underground to the sounds of Lil Baby and Becky G set the stage for the massive crossover encounter.
Ngannou’s entrance was spectacular as the former UFC heavyweight champion emerged seated on a throne with his name scribed on the back, wearing a crown and golden robe as Cameroonian flags were waved alongside him. Mike Tyson lifted the crown off Ngannou’s head as UFC fighters Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya joined him on his way to the ring.
Fury followed by walking the halls lined with legendary boxers and danced to Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” as he made his way to the ring. But the fun and games ended for Fury as soon as the opening bell rang.
Unlike other mixed martial artists who tried their hand at boxing, Ngannou looked the part after a single round against Fury. He refused to fall for Fury’s tricks, held his composure and boxed as well as anyone has against Fury in recent memory.
The stunning moment came in the third round when Ngannou caught Fury with a right hand and sent “The Gypsy King” to the canvas. A look of shock was worn on the face of Fury as he rose to his feet and completed the round.
What was thought to be a glorified sparring session ended up being a nip-and-tuck affair between two gargantuan heavyweights. Fury needed to resort to his boxing as Ngannou pressed forward, landed power shots and proved to be the challenger he made himself out to be.
Fury managed to score points by prodding with the jab in the middle rounds to negate the knockdown. But Ngannou never gave up and found a way to outbox Fury in the final third of the 10-round encounter. But it wasn’t enough as Fury remained undefeated and avoided being the laughing stock of the sport.
"Now I know I can do this sh-t," Ngannou said following the loss with a smile. "Get ready, baby! The wolf is in the house!"
This may not be the last time we see Francis Ngannou in a boxing ring.
Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou full card results
- Tyson Fury def. Francis Ngannou via split decision (96-93, 95-94 & 94-95)
- Fabio Wardley def. David Adeleye via 7th round TKO (2:43) for the British Heavyweight Title
- Joseph Parker def. Simon Kean via 3rd round KO (2:04)
- Martin Bakole def. Carlos Takam via 4th round TKO (2:15)
- Arslanbek Makhmudov def. Anthony Wright via 1st round TKO (1:10)
- Moses Itauma def. Istvan Bernath via 1st round KO (1:53)