WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and pro debuting MMA star Francis Ngannou spoke about Fury’s split decision win on Saturday evening at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Tyson Fury: “That definitely wasn’t in the script. He’s one hell of a fighter. He’s strong, a big puncher, and a lot better as a boxer than we thought he would ever be. He’s a very awkward man, and he’s a good puncher. I respect him a lot, before the fight and afterward.
“He was very awkward. He wasn’t coming forward. He was standing back and waiting for me to land my punches and then try to counter. He’s a good fighter. He’s given me one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years.
“[The knockdown] is part of boxing. I got caught behind the head again. My legs weren’t hurt or nothing. I was alright. And I got back up and it was what it was. And I got back to my boxing. I don’t know how close it was. But I got the win, and that’s what it is.”
Francis Ngannou: “We can run it back again, and I’m sure I will get better. This was my first boxing match. It was a great experience. I’m not giving any excuse. I know I came up short. But I’m going to go back and work harder with a little more experience and a little more feeling of the game. And I will come back even stronger.
“At first, I was a little nervous. This is a new sport that I never did. Now I know I can do this sh*t. So, get ready!”
Yea it was his toughest fight because he did not even train hard
He did not took this fight seriously
He can’t do that against usyk
He can train as hard as he wants for Usyk and he’s still going to get beaten up and probably stopped. Watch!
Training won’t matter. Fury is going to get clowned by Usyk, if the fight even happens.
Fury has a poor habit of using his reach on the outside to land something and then suddenly grabs and holds once they come close. I would think with all his bragging as a prize fighter he could be more polished and move laterally and slide away as a defense rather than the cheap desperate tactic of holding. Gets old after a while and the referee never says anything other than “break”. I guarantee you he will hold Usyk on the inside.
Yeah, and remember how much he lambasted Klitschko for that tactic? I hate hypocrites, don’t you?
Yes, good point!
He has Klitscho’s trainer is why he is using the dirty tactics.
Seem like a smart tactic, no?
Francis was a lot faster than the training showed and there was essence of Mike Tyson movements. Wether it was scripted or not (who knows!) but I don’t think so.
Hats off to Francis comments also.
Look forward to his next fight as I believe he will surprise.
Yes Fury won,no argument.
My Sentiments as well.
Fury lost and his wife’s face also told the story.
I feel like what we’re witnessing here with the pathetic spectacle that is Tyson Fury, is a low point in the history of boxing athleticism and authenticity. Fury is a gimmick. He looks pathetic. He’s a tall, lanky, stiff, unathletic man, who moves around and punches like a puppet on a string. He is untalented, awkward, offensive to watch. He curiously acts as if he’s the second coming of Muhammad Ali, when in actuality he looks like something amateurish that we have never seen. He’s a carnival side show, chasing money. He runs his mouth, acts like a damn fool, and looks absurd. Here he was fighting an MMA guy, strictly for hype and money. He calls himself a “heavyweight champion.” In my eyes, and in the eyes of many, he is anything but. He is an embarrassment to the sport, a foulness and folly to its glorious, dignified, and majestic history. I wish he would go away.
I totally agree. Tyson Fury is a manufactured Champion he’s a fraud. He makes the corporation millions because of his mouth and clowning around, the build up to Fury’s fights are more entertaining than the actual fight. . If you go back and look a Fury’s fights from day one, you will think how in the hell could he become undisputed world boxing champion. It’s not enough to be a good fighter these days, a fighter has to be media marketable.
Yet, Lexus he has beat everyone in front of him . I didn’t see tonight’s fight, so I don’t know anything about it other than he was knocked down which you are right, shouldn’t of happened. He beat a prime wilder literally three times. He beat the man, Klitschko in Germany. He defended his title against two over the Hill fighters and according to many barely escaped a first time boxer. Let’s talk about that. Ngannou is a ufc fighter not a newcomer. He has had over 20 fights, so he knows how to take a punch and dish it out. Still, fury shots have took him to school.
Wlad was nearly 40 years old and clearly wasn’t prepared for the passivity of Fury. Had there ever been a rematch I’m pretty sure that even a 40+ Klitschko would have been able to adjust his style enough to beat Fury.
Yes he did beat Wilder, but Wilder is a clumsy, limited fighter with a strong punch. Still they were good wins.
This is all true Killa, but I have never been impressed with Fury. Sure, he beat Klitschko. When Fury beat him, Klitschko was pushing 40 and on the tail end of his career. I was unimpressed by the win. True to his reliance on hype, Fury acts like he beat a prime, undefeated Klitschko. So pathetic.
Yes, Fury beat Wilder. Wilder’s a crowd pleaser when he knocks out smaller, older, slower fighters, and by today’s standards this makes him great. IMO, it doesn’t. Wilder looked dreadful against Fury for all the wrong reasons. His boxing skills were non-existent, he had no endurance, is strictly an arm puncher, and fights like a glorified amateur. Fury simply needed to outlast Wilder, who didn’t have the boxing skills to overcome Fury’s height and weight advantage, like all the mediocre heavyweights that Fury has beaten. Beating the overrated, overhyped Wilder doesn’t make Fury great.
Since beating Klitschko 8 years ago, Fury has fought 10 times, typically less than twice a year. Hardly active. He didn’t fight at all in 2016 and 2017. Among those 10 fights were the three fights with Wilder in 2018, 2020, and 2021. He only fought once in 2020 and 2021. He likes to fight people he’s beaten before, fighters who are no match, like Chisora who he has easily beaten three times. Aside from MMA fighter Ngannou and an over-the-hill Whyte, fighting the likes of Otto Wallin, Tom Schwarz, Francesco Pianeta, Sefer Seferi don’t exactly compel greatness.
Fury is long on hype and short on skill, and in my book, this makes him unbelievably annoying to watch and unimpressive.
Lex, Again, your opinion. I have no stake in the game. I’m not hyping him up just merely stating that he has beat everyone in front of him. You can’t fault him for facing Klitschko at 40. That’s when the fight was made available to him. Wilder had two belts, both got off the canvas in extraordinary fights. Everyone said Wilder had no skills, but he was knocking everyone out except fury. Again, another fighter that beat everyone in front of him. Some of those other names mentioned, I agree, not your world beaters. Hey, all I can say is that he is still undefeated with three belts and was once undisputed too. Hard to argue with that. He can be annoying at times, but also funny. Personally, I think he is just a little touched mentally, then again getting hit in the head for a living doesn’t help. I guess we see with usyk, but I think he out points him by wide margins just based on his size.
I agree he’s not one of the greatest but to do what he did is still a great accomplishment!fury wouldn’t beat holyfield Riddick bowe Tyson Lennox Lewis Larry homes George Forman Michael Moore and I can name alot more he does have that American style of beautiful punches in bunches! I’m sure you know what I mean don’t get me wr6 for a tall guy he can fight but he is limited. But everything you wrote is true great points!
I have always felt the same way about the big pikey myself, and I’m glad that Usyk will be the one to make him go away after he stops him while winning every round.
But won’t it just be stunning if a little guy like Usek beats Tyson? Hard to see it happening but if it does, Usek will be considered among the greats.
When they claimed ‘heavyweight boxing was back’ after the Fury-Wilder fights I rolled my eyes; because this is the most talentless era in heavyweight boxing all time. Tyson Fury is a lazy sack of lard, that only uses head movement and feints to beat all his opponents; which just goes to show the deterioration of this era when you have the best fighters stood there like statues unable to dodge. I saw the great Larry Holmes in the audience for this fight..Holmes was a real master of movement he would’ve diced these suckas quick in his prime. I was like damn what an embarrassment to the legacy of boxing that sack of lard Tyson fury has done.
I actually think he is one of the most fluid big guys ever, and has more power that is seems. That said, not a fan, but wont bash his boxing skills, he’s got em.
Bingo. A prime, well prepared Jack O’Halloran would have had a good chance of beating Fury. Fury has decent reflexes but is slow, clumsy and has terrible balance.
I would be hard pressed to find footage or actual knowledge from Fury’s mouth of what he and ‘Sugar’ did for preparation, [ for Francis ] as far as developing and mastering Boxing Science.
Even the public footages N E V E R show Fury sharpening one aspect of said Science. I don’t respect yes men ‘trainers’ as ‘Sugar.’
If he’s that bad, what does that say about the competition. He may not be an all-time great, but he is certainly worthy of the hall of fame and an excellent heavyweight boxer…in the eyes of many.
Some people commenting on this site have no idea what they’re talking about Fury is 6’9” moves like a much smaller man can take a shot doesn’t get tired is hard to hit and can punch. The only problem with Mr Fury is his mind It is apparent that he didn’t train very hard for this fight he took his opponent lightly. The only one that will beat Mr. Fury is Mr Fury if he trains hard for a fight and his mind is right no one will beat him.
Tyson Fury, one of the most over rated fighters in the history of heavyweights. This man is very lucky to be getting paid. Very embarrassing and a little sad to see the sport so diminished.
I think most people forget that Ngannou started out as a boxer, but foolishly got into MMA. Had he stuck with boxing he could’ve been a world champion, earning more in one fight than his whole MMA career combined.
Ngannou was built to be a boxer; amazing chin; great natural power; no nose cartilage…
How did he start in boxing when he’s never had one fight…sparrings not “started boxing”!
get real.
Ngannou began learning out to box in the gym many years ago. He’s studied the sport for a long time & became UFC champ because of his boxing ability & punching power. Ngannou is not a grappler who wants to roll around on the ground; he’s a natural punching machine! The guy is also physically built to take punishment; strong neck; thick cranium; no nose cartilage; and skin so thick it barely gets marked!!!
I felt Fury was holding back in some places in the fight. In addition, folks this event was all about money. Add the ingredients up: non-title fight, heavy advertisement to sell tickets, and Fury had nothing to gain win or lose. Mayweather was holding back on McGregor and carried him to the end making the fight worthy for viewers/investors. Had Fury demolished Ngannou in the first two rounds, ticket sells would lag for future events especially when a prize fighter takes on another MMA fighter. My 2 cents….
Good for Ngannou. He did better than very well.
But, Fury, after all his talk etc.. showed up like a big fat out of shape turd. He was way under trained.
And looked Terrible..
Maybe he will stop ballooning up to over 300lbs between fights between fights
He embarrassed himself and all of boxing. Meanwhile cheers to Francis for taking it serious and giving his all.
FRANCES NGANNOU, Exposed boxing”s corruption.. everyone saw what happened.. Boxing has been damaged because it was cross over sport and he made a spectacle out of Tyson Fury that being a clown and exposed boxing with the BAD Decision .. its blatant fraud from the boxing world because they did not want to get exposed.. TERRIBLE these kinds of decisions hurts the boxing world..
Give Ngannou another shot.. for me he deserves.. but they won’t !
This turned out to be a very close fight, but it was not a “robbery.” Most casual fans were probably pulling for Ngannou because he was such a huge underdog in his pro debut.
I just read LeBron James’ comments crying about the Cameroon fighter being robbed. The real robbery, LeBron, was what recently happened outside your I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, in which 17-yr-old Ethan Liming was robbed of his life when beaten to death while his killers received only 6-18 months in prison. But of course, I think we all know why LeBron goes to bat for Ngannou and not the unfortunate victim, Liming.
Good points.
LeBron James is a purse carrying pansy diva who in his prime was never as good of a basketball player as Nicola Jokic. Never mind the GOAT Michael Jordan.
Fury wasn’t all that prepared, but the biggest issue was there is really no way to prepare for someone who has no boxing matches. No tape, no footage. That and the power of Francis. Now that we have seen him….maybe he will improve, but I didn’t see anything for the other heavyweights to worry about. He has power, but looked pretty basic. Fury looked like Trash
You’re probably right on Francis. But just maybe…Tyson wasn’t great but not all that bad. That’s why I think there’s a little hope that Francis might be real. Fast for a muscle guy and not bad stamina. But oh did he look strong as an ox!
Francis Ngannou should of threw more punches but most of the time he just stood there
That wasn’t it. Once the Usyk fight was announced Francis had no shot at winning a UD. Too much money to lose on a Fury loss.
Yea, Francis should have been way better and had Ali’s speed and a more powerful puck like Tyson and defensive skills like TBE and stamina like S. Porter. Just can’t figure out why he didn’t have the smarts of Crawford..I mean, he’s had a boxing match. One boxing match. What a bum.
Let me guess….because this was such a close, tough fight for Fury there will be a rematch rather than fighting Usyk.
At this juncture in heavyweight history, we are witnessing some the poorest bunch of heavyweights since the 1970s-80’s’.
Fury is slow and ponderous. Wilder is not even a boxer and Joshua who is probably the most technically gifted of the bunch would not have even been a contender in Evander Holyfield’s era.
Usyk is a cruiserweight, and he is heads and shoulders above everyone else in this talentless heavyweight division.
Under-trained or over-trained Fury is not
on the radar of the best heavyweights. He does have an amazing recuperative
power and his size allows him to crowd most fighters on the inside. He lacks all
of the qualities of a truly great fighter.
He hasn’t claimed to be the best heavyweight ever.
Well, one thing this proves to fury haters….that wilder was either a huge bum, or fury had an off night and underestimated Francis.
They can’t have it both ways.
Bobby j, or Ngannou is better than we all thought.
I didn’t see the fight, but it turned out about like I thought it would. I figured Fury wouldn’t train all that much and show up about 75 lbs overweight. I haven’t read what his weight actually was. I wasn’t at all, familiar with the other guy, but I thought he’d probably be a pretty tough guy, and might go the distance. Wasn’t really all that surprised that Fury was on the canvas, and he was. This wasn’t vintage Fury, by any measurement. But I can’t even remember when he last fought.
It’s probably a good thing there’s not much heavyweight talent around nowdays either. Don’t make much difference though, Fury ain’t gonna fight but every few years anyway. Next man up will probably get him.
Gypsy Queen did not Win that fight that was a rip-off.
He’s overrated technically , defensively n movement.. you don’t go down 5 times to wilder, get roughed up by an Otto Wallin if he is anywhere near as good as he claims ..very clumsy guy..look at his blood line..his half brother garbage, his father was a trash club fighter , Hughie just as overrated ..they made him ti be youngest heavyweight champ
Goofy thing to say when he’s never been bested.
Fury was not allowed to fight with altered gloves.
Ngannou did not allow Fury to pull his head down or lift his head up and punch him. In fact Ngannou immediately countered when Fury tried.
Big difference.
Fury’s punches did not look the same as when he fought Wilder the third time. Nor did his punches have remotely close to the same power.
I thought Fury was going to beat Ngannou easily.
We all thought Fury was going to beat him easily. Ngannou proved the world wrong. None gave him a chance.
Ngannou vs Chisora
Wasn’t this an exhibition? Fury could not lose his titles and Ngannou could not win the titles, right?
Regarding as far as rounds go Fury won enough rounds to win on points clearly. After the 8th round Ngannou was gassed out and he was barely throwing. It was a boring Clear workman like decision victory for Fury but he did not look good. Fury needs to rematch Ngannou regardless if Fury beats Usyk or not. After this rough outing Fury needs to reschedule Usyk until February right after the Super Bowl and before Match Madness basketball. Then win or lose he needs to fight Ngannou next July or Aigust in a mid Sumner showdown before Canelo returns in September. Ngannou should return on the Fury Usyk undercard against Andy Ruiz or Joseph Parker in a tune up for Fury. After Fury then Ngannou could end 2024 or begin 2025 fighting Deontay Wilder or Anthony Joshua maybe one in December of 2024 then the other in the spring of 2025. This Fury fight has earned Ngannou the biggest paydays of his life in boxing most glamorous division. It don’t get much better than that in the sport of boxing unless he can somehow get a Canelo fight then that’s the best any heavyweight boxer of this ever can ever hope to do financially.
That’d be a big chunk of beef for Francis to bite off my friend.
Usyk – best heavy on the planet will wipe the floor with Fury. Ignore the fact that he was technically KOed in his last fight by a body shot by a lad I would put the house on Francis KOing inside 3 rds or that he went into life or death with Chisora who fury dismissed in second gear more than once. What will the fan boys say after fury wipes the floor with the feather punching leftie?
Zhang would crush both these clowns.
Well Francis was trained by Mike Tyson so what does that tell you, it says Mike could’ve KILLED Fury in his prime and been charged with murder.Im not so sure if he couldn’t beat him at age 56.And I might add that anybody that Fury fights does not matter anymore, because Usyk cheated and lost his last fight and Fury won a lopsided split decision.WHO would watch either of these frauds and pay?????The HWT division needs to get Ruiz and ZHANG in the fold to find a REAL HWT CHAMP>>>>>>>>
While Tyson Fury did squeak out the win, the headline says all you need to know about the current state of the heavyweight division. Tyson Fury should be embarrassed by his preparation, and performance.
Some people said Mr. Ngannou couldn’t punch his way out of a paper bag ????
Francis proved the world wrong. None except himself gave him a chance. I’d definitely like to see Francis in there again. Either he gets the winner of Usyk vs Fury or Deontae Wilder. Francis definitely has everyone’s attention now.
Fury disgraced boxing. He has nothing but his blubbering body to lay on Usyk. Hopefully, if they do in fact meet, Fury will be penalized for his fouling tactics as well. It’s too bad for him. he had a chance at greatness and now it’s all out the window.
Nordic Annihilator, I noticed how you conveniently left out the fact that the 3 young men sentenced were shot at with water gel guns unprovoked, while playing basketball and a 3 on 4 fight ensued, where unfortunately, Ethan hit his head on the pavement after being knocked out. The school rules stipulate that those guns are not allowed on school grounds where the all night basketball court was located. Ethan and his friends weren’t even playing basketball. The instructions on those guns also state that you should not shoot at people or animals with them; maybe they were mistaken for something else, that should explain it just fine. I see your name fits your Ice Trauma Bio-Psycho-Climatology Temperament just well. Hear of any Mass Shootings with real guns lately?
Ethan tried to break up the fight. So according to your logic, a water squirtgun deserves death?
far as im concerned there is no heavy weight champion at this time i seen usyk kayoed by a body punch and fury beaten by a fighter with no pro boxing matches no heavy weight stands out except that big china man zhang
If ngannu almost dismatled fury on his debut, the supposed one of the top pound for pound fighter, i can’t imagine how baddly he’ll destroy wilder,ruiz,joshua and or uzik if they they ever decide to get on his way!
I said NGANNOU COULD WIN AND HE DID-HE WAS THE AGGRESSOR ALL NIGHT-HE WON AND AGAIN BOXING LET ITSELF DOWN-BYTHIS ROBBERY!
I would like to see Ngannou vs. Chris Arreola. Arreola throws a lot of punches, so it would be interesting to see if Ngannou can keep pace.
Tyson Fury. Don’t go away, man. Just GO AWAY.
Carnival barking freak show, what he is. If Fury was
only 6’2″ and 230 he would be a nothing burger.
I am very late to this party and no one will likely read this at this point but I will put in my 2 cents. First I will say I had it 97-92 Fury. IMO when people see something they do not expect they often exaggerate in their mind what they saw and then scream robbery. That said I do agree that Ngannou embarrassed Fury. I would also say that Ngannou had the highlight moments, hurt Fury more then Fury hurt him, and came out with a cleaner face as Fury had a cut and and swollen eye. Ngannou was amazingly technically sound, extremally powerful, hard to hit clean, and seems to have a granite chin.
So all that said…why do I think Fury won? IMO he still landed more punches in most of the rounds. Ngannou spent a lot of time looking for the right opportunity while Fury was active with his jab and other punches. Again I felt embarrassed for Fury and as a boxing fan that an MMA with no pro fights guy gave the champ that much trouble.I can even see if someone scored it the way one would score a street fight they might favour Ngannou. But at least from my view Fury won the majority of the rounds just by being more busy and that is how boxing is scored.. It was not pretty but he (Fury) got the job done.
Impressive job by Francis. I took my brother to watch the fight and he doesn’t follow the sport. He like most felt Francis won, and I had to explain that the cards were actually nice and close/accurate range. I like the commentators who have described it simply that Tyson only won the boxing match, but Francis won the FIGHT (tyson barely got a draw or edged by winning some rounds on jabs. But we mostly all would concur he was unimpressive, ineffective when he landed, and probably underprepared. Boxing is unique as a sport in that you can take your friend/family member to watch a large event and then the largely unexpected occurs. The only wager I took was the +1.5 knockdowns, but since the knockdown arrived from Francis, then of course Tyson went to a prevent defense, and tried to win on points. He might have had better luck with taking more risks and being aggressive for the remainder such as large portions of fights vs Wilder. However the end result is lots of varying opinions on that didn’t have the same mixtures on topics such as, Will he even beat Usyk now? Would he come back stronger and beat Francis in a rematch? Will a fight with either even occur in the near future or will they be pushed back 6 months or so? Is he just seeing a age decline beginning? Or is Francis possibly a top heavyweight now? It’s good for sportstalk/debate but my personal preference is that He and his team feel strongly they can remedy the missteps, sign on for the Feb date with Usyk with confidance, using the 2 large paychecks in short time as the carrot. Frank Warren makes a good case for their efforts to wrap up the fight that solidifies 1 champion. At least it’s coming together quicker than other historic fights that took too long.
I doubt Francis would beat any top heavyweight and not many farther down the list guys. Fury evidently didn’t take the guy too serious, and did just enough to win. If he fought someone else now, they WOULD take him serious, and most would beat him at this stage. I don’t know his age, but he might have time to make a decent boxer if he put the time in and had a good trainer. Mike Tyson apparently did a good job with him. But at this point, I seriously doubt he’d beat over a handful of real fighters.
That is the most likely case. But it is exciting to think about “What if” with this guy. Tyson didn’t look great but he didn’t look terrible either. This guy was just surprisingly good! And surprisingly he wasn’t nervous or reluctant to engage. Oh what he might have been if he grew up boxing.