RIYADH – World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury beat mixed martial arts fighter Francis Ngannou in a split decision after their boxing bout went the distance in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
Ngannou knocked Fury down in Round 3 but the 35-year-old British fighter, though shaken, was able to continue.
The undefeated Fury, who last week laughed off his opponent as a “big fat sausage”, afterwards acknowledged that the 37-year-old Cameroonian had effectively kept him off-balance. Two of the judges gave him the win 96-93 and 95-94. The third judge scored it 95-94 in favour of his opponent.
“He’s a very awkward man, and he’s a good puncher and I respect him a lot,” Fury said of Ngannou, adding that it was “probably my toughest fight in 10 years”.
Fury was the overwhelming favourite against boxing novice Ngannou.
“This was my first boxing match, great experience – I’m not giving any excuse,” Ngannou said in a ringside interview.
“I know I came up short. I’m going to come back and work harder... now I know I can do this.”
Fury came out swinging in the first round with a hard right hand but sustained a cut to the forehead in the second round and looked especially sluggish after hitting the mat in the third.
The final rounds dragged on before the Briton was pronounced the winner.
“I don’t know how close it was, but I got the win and that’s how it was,” Fury said.
“Fair play to Francis, he cut my head here. It was a good fight.”
Fury’s World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight belt was not on the line in the Battle of the Baddest in Riyadh, but Saudi officials nevertheless hoped it would further boost the Gulf kingdom’s reputation as a top-flight boxing destination.
With all parties desperate to lend the contest some sporting legitimacy, the WBC had fashioned a Riyadh Champion belt to allow the winner to strut around the ring at the end with something other than a fat pay cheque.
Fury has been linked with a £50 million (S$83 million) payout from Saturday’s exhibition bout, while he has said in the British press that Ngannou will earn £10 million.
Ahead of their 10-round contest, the Briton has described Ngannou as a “more dangerous” fighter than Oleksandr Usyk, the holder of three world titles, whom Fury will face in Riyadh in December.
“Twenty-three of December, I’m ready to fight,” said Ukrainian Usyk, who went into the ring after the fight.
Fury responded: “Let’s go now if you want.”
Saudi Arabia has hosted a series of high-profile fights in recent years including the 2019 Clash on the Dunes, in which Anthony Joshua reclaimed his world heavyweight crown from Andy Ruiz, and 2022’s Rage on the Red Sea in Jeddah, in which Joshua lost in a split decision to Usyk.
Saudi officials say there has been a surge of domestic interest in boxing in recent years.
Their goal is to have 500,000 boxers in the kingdom by 2030 as part of a broader sports push under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 reform agenda.
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, now in the Saudi Pro League, and rappers Kanye West and Eminem, were at Saturday’s event to mark the start of Riyadh Season, which features concerts and sporting events to boost Saudi’s tourism appeal. The festivities went ahead despite concerns the Israel-Hamas war could pitch the region into turmoil.
Turki Al Sheikh, head of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, last week dismissed criticism on social media at a time when other events in the region have been cancelled, saying on Facebook that “every Saudi, including myself, is busy with the development and renaissance of his country”.
The war was mentioned just once on Saturday, when heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov said after his undercard win over Junior Anthony Wright: “Victory to our brothers in Palestine!”
AFP, REUTERS
