Tyson Fury reacts following split decision win over Francis Ngannou

Tyson Fury shared his immediate reaction following his controversial split decision win over Francis Ngannou this evening in Saudi Arabia.

Fury (34-0-1) and Ngannou (17-3 MMA) squared off in a sanctioned professional boxing match this afternoon on DAZN pay-per-view. The bout was scheduled for 10 three-minute rounds and Fury’s WBC heavyweight title was not up for grabs.

Tyson Fury was returning to action for the first time since December of 2022, where he scored a tenth-round TKO victory over Derek Chisora. Prior to that, ‘The Gypsy King’ had earned a sixth-round TKO victory over Dillian Whyte.

Meanwhile, Francis Ngannou was making his professional boxing debut when he squared off with the reigning WBC heavyweight champion this evening. The 37-year-old was returning to combat sports for the first time since edging out a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January of 2022 to retain the promotion’s heavyweight world title.

To the surprise of many, tonight’s spectacle resulted in a closely contested battle. Francis Ngannou was able to drop Tyson Fury with a left hand in round three and remained competitive throughout the entirety of the thirty-minute contest. While ‘The Gypsy King’ did land a few clean punches, it was far from the performance most expected from the reigning WBC heavyweight champion. In the end, it was Fury who edged out a hotly debated split decision win.

Official Result: Tyson Fury def. Francis Ngannou by split decision (96-93, 95-94, 94-95)

Immediately following the conclusion of the contest, ‘The Gypsy King’ took to the mic and shared his thoughts on the contest.

.@Tyson_Fury's immediate thoughts after the win.#FuryNgannou | #BattleOfTheBaddest pic.twitter.com/jkNCvnEGRb

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) October 28, 2023

“Listen, he was very awkward. He was umm… He wasn’t coming forward. He was standing back waiting for me to land my punches and then trying to counter. He was a good fighter. He’s given me probably one of me toughest fights in the last ten years.”

Tyson Fury continued by addressing the third-round knockdown:

“It’s a part of boxing. You know, I got caught behind the head, again. I wasn’t legs hurt or nothing. I was alright and I got back up. And it was what it was, I got back to my boxing.”

Tyson Fury is expected to fight Oleksandr Usyk his next time out.