Tyson Fury knocked down by Francis Ngannou in split decision win

Francis Ngannou: I know I beat Tyson Fury but winning a decision in boxing is tough | ESPN Ringside

The highly anticipated “Battle of the Baddest” between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou on October 28 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh concluded on a controversial note as a 10-round split decision put Fury prevailing over his counterpart.

Ngannou shocked the entire audience after delivering relentless attacks against the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion despite having no prior experience as a professional boxer.

After a slow start, the former UFC heavyweight champion delivered a cut on Fury’s forehead following a left hook from “The Gypsy King.”

The high-sounding performance from Ngannou peaked when he knocked down Fury in the third round. However, as the match concluded, the judges gave scores of 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury and 95-94 for Ngannou.

“That definitely wasn’t in the script. He’s a hell of a fighter and a hell of a lot better boxer than we thought he would be. He’s an awkward man and a good puncher and I respect him a lot,” Fury said.

“He’s given me one of my toughest fights of the last 10 years.”

Community disappointment

Despite the competitiveness of the match, many — including Ngannou himself — believe that the Cameroonian-French should have been the victor.

On his YouTube channel, Ngannou expressed his disappointment with the judges following the verdict.

“I think it’s a shame for boxing though. I think it’s a shame for this sport. And those judges or whoever, they should be sanctioned. Again, I want to understand why those judges judge like that because for me, to be honest, I don’t care that much about that decision, but I think those kinds of decisions mess up a lot of people’s careers,” he said.

Boxing legends, including Roberto Duran, Chris Eubank Jr, and Mike Tyson, are unequivocal in their opinions that “The Predator” should have snatched the victory instead of Fury.

It remains unknown if Ngannou and Fury will have a rematch in the future to settle their scores.