Francis Ngannou reacts following split decision loss to Tyson Fury

Francis Ngannou has reacted following his controversial split decision loss to Tyson Fury this evening in Saudi Arabia.

Ngannou (17-3 MMA) and Fury (34-0-1 Boxing) squared off in the headliner of this afternoon’s DAZN Boxing pay-per-view event. The bout was sanctioned as a professional boxing match, but Fury’s WBC heavyweight title was not on the line.

Francis Ngannou 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.

Meanwhile, Tyson Fury had most previously competed in December of 2022, where he scored a tenth-round TKO victory over Derek Chisora. Prior to that, ‘The Gypsy King’ was coming off a sixth-round TKO victory over Dillian Whyte.

While mans fans and pundits believed that today’s bout was nothing more than a tune up contest for Tyson Fury, that did not prove to be the case. Despite it being his first ever professional boxing match, Francis Ngannou stood toe-to-toe with the reigning WBC heavyweight champion for ten straight rounds, even dropping ‘The Gypsy King’ with a left hand in round three.

It was an incredible performance from Ngannou, but despite his efforts, he wound up on the losing end of a hotly debated split decision.

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

Shortly following the conclusion of tonight’s spectacle, Ngannou took to social media where he shared the following reaction to his professional boxing debut.

https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1718434733892190221

“Tyson should say thank you to those 2 judges because I didn’t win this fight 🙄”

Francis Ngannou later shared the following post:

https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1718450335931310355

“Table Tennis champion of the world ☝🏿”

During his post-fight interview, Ngannou called for a rematch with Fury. Whether or not ‘The Gypsy King’ will entertain that idea remains to be seen.

What did you think of Francis Ngannou’s professional boxing debut? Do you feel he did enough to warrant a decision win?