Francis Ngannou

The general consensus among boxing fans is that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was robbed of a win against WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a 10-round bout on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury narrowly defeated Ngannou via split decision (96-93, 95-94, 94-95).

The highly competitive bout appeared to reach a turning point when Ngannou knocked down Fury with a ferocious left hook. It marked the seventh knockdown of Fury's career.

However, Fury regained his form and the two continued to battle through a full 10 rounds.

While Ngannou lost the fight, it was quite the coming out party for the 37-year-old in his professional boxing debut, and many believe he should have won, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid:

Ngannou walked away from UFC as the heavyweight champion and entered the boxing world with fairly tepid expectations, but after Saturday's bout with Fury, fans will be clamoring to see how he stacks up with some of boxing's best.

As for Fury, he'll prepare for a bout against Oleksandr Usyk in an effort to defend his WBC title.

Heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury narrowly earned a victory over Francis Ngannou Saturday and had plenty of praise for his opponent.

Fury emerged as the winner via a split decision (96-93, 95-94 and 94-95) but was knocked down by Ngannou and the fight was much closer than originally anticipated.

"He's a hell of a figher and a hell of a lot better boxer than we thought he would be," Fury said, per Luke Brown of The Athletic. "He's an awkward man and a good puncher and I respect him a lot."

Fury praised Ngannou's shiftiness and difficulty to square up as reasons why the boyt was so difficult.

"He was very awkward, he wasn't coming forward and was waiting for me to throw," Fury said, per Brown. "He's given me one of my toughest fights of the last ten years."

Fury maintained his undefeated record (33-0-1, 24 KO's) but certainly had a scare from Ngannou, who was making his boxing debut after a very successful UFC career.

Fury is currently scheduled to take on Oleksandyr Usyk for heavyweight supremacy in December, although it is not yet known if Saturday's bout could delay that and Fury was non-committal about when it would happen.

"It's not up to me, Fury said, per Brown. "Let's go now if you want. These guys will sort it all out and it will be our next fight guaranteed."

That fight will be for the undisputed heavyweight championship and is scheduled to occur December 23 in Saudi Arabia.

Tyson Fury handed Francis Ngannou a split-decision loss in a special heavyweight bout from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that was much more hard-fought than many thought it would be.

Ngannou might have been expected to come out hot, but it was Fury who threw the opening salvo. He fired a warning shot with an overhand right in the opening moments.

That turned out to be one of the highlight moments from the opening round. Ngannou took a patient approach early with a few jabs to the body while Fury fired off a few more overhand rights.

Ngannou continued to acquit himself nicely. A few analysts even gave him the second round in which he opened up a cut above Fury's eye.

The great moments kept coming for Ngannou when he landed a sharp left hook that knocked down Fury in the third.

While Fury got off to a slow start, Ngannou definitely earned respect with his ability to put Fury in some uncomfortable spots.

Despite the positive moments from Ngannou, Fury continued to have success with his jab and found a home for plenty of his own shots.

Ngannou continued to fire back, just like he did all night.

The boxing world came away shocked and impressed with Ngannou, who put in a stunning performance in his introduction to the sport.

Fury himself had nothing respect for Ngannou's boxing prowess.

This fight quickly became more than an ordinary crossover event. Ngannou has established a reputation as one of the most powerful punchers in MMA and walked away from the UFC as the heavyweight champion.

Part of his reasoning for leaving was his desire to box. When his contract expired, he wanted to pursue at least one boxing match to test his skills.

While the UFC wasn't willing to give him the kind of contract that he wanted, the Professional Fighter League was happy to include the freedom in his deal. The 37-year-old has yet to fight with his new MMA organization but he has at least checked "professional boxing match" off of his career to-do list.

Of course, winning a professional boxing match remains elusive.

In fairness, Ngannou made his debut against the best heavyweight in the world. While this wasn't for a championship, Fury holds the WBC title and has plans to defend it in late 2023 or early 2024 against Oleksandr Usyk.

With the win Fury moves his record to 34-0-1. Despite the long odds that he would get upset by someone making his boxing debut, Fury respected Ngannou as an opponent.

"I never, ever do that," he said in regards to taking Ngannou lightly, per Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting. "If I was fighting somebody in a local bar, and I knew I had to fight the guy in six weeks, guy not even from a combat sport, I would train hard, because you never know what the guy is going to bring. Never mind someone from a bar, I'm fighting an absolute killer in Francis Ngannou"

Now Fury gets to move his attention to another champion in Usyk. The Ukrainian is is 21-0 and has the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles. The unification bout should be a massive event and the win over Ngannou only creates more momentum for it.

As WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou prepare to square off in a 10-round boxing match, Oscar De La Hoya doesn't like the mixed martial artist's chances of leaving the bout with a victory.

Speaking to TMZ Sports ahead of the marquee matchup, De La Hoya said he would "have a better chance at beating Tiger Woods in golf" than Ngannou does of beating Fury in a boxing match.

Ngannou was stripped of the UFC title and left the promotion in January when the two sides were unable to agree to terms on a new contract. He's making his boxing debut on Saturday against Fury, who is 33-0-1 with 24 knockouts in 34 career fights.

While there is an argument for Ngannou as the best heavyweight mixed martial artist of this generation, history has shown there's a vast difference between competing in MMA and a straight boxing match.

Conor McGregor is probably the most famous example of someone who tried this. He took on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, losing via TKO in the 10th round.

But there are many examples of UFC fighters dabbling in boxing with middling results. Ben Askren, José Aldo, Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz, Frank Mir and Tyron Woodley all have at least one boxing fight on their resume. Those six fighters have a combined 1-4-1 record with Aldo being the only one with a victory.

Ngannou certainly has the type of power to pull off an upset win over Fury if he can connect with a punch or a series of strikes during the match. But it's likely going to be an uphill climb for the Predator to do what none of Fury's previous opponents have been able to do.

Fury and Ngannou will battle it out at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The main card begins at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Legendary heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson believes the story of his working relationship with former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou could be something that appeals to Hollywood one day.

According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Tyson recalled fielding a call about training Ngannou and accepting, noting that their partnership could be fit for a movie at some point: "I said, 'Let's do it.' It's his story. They are going to make a movie out of this. [The way he looked up to me as a kid], that's how I felt about Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard."

Ngannou was a dominant force in the world of MMA, going 17-3 with 12 knockouts and beating Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in 2021, but after a win over Ciryl Gane last year, he left UFC and vacated the title since they could not come to terms on a new contract.

While the 37-year-old signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), his current focus is on a foray into boxing and an upcoming fight against undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Knowing that Fury has a massive advantage when it comes to boxing experience, Ngannou enlisted one of the all-time great heavyweights in Tyson to prepare him for the bout.

Tyson took boxing by storm from the mid-1980s into the early-1990s, starting his professional career 37-0 and winning his first world heavyweight title in 1986 at the age of 20.

Iron Mike ended up posting a career record of 50-6 with two no contests, establishing himself as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history.

Ngannou has an uphill climb ahead of him when he faces Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday, and there likely aren't many people expecting him to win.

If Ngannou can take down one of the best heavyweights of the past couple of decades in his first career boxing match, though, there may be something to Tyson's movie idea.

Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has his sights set on a clash with UFC heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones following his bout with former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou next month.

During an appearance Thursday on ESPN's First Take, Fury was asked by Stephen A. Smith what his next step will be after the Ngannou fight.

Fury said he is looking to fight "big, big stars" before naming Jones as his preferred opponent and exclaiming, "I'm gonna kick his ass!"

The 35-year-old Fury, who is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion, is undefeated in 34 career professional boxing matches, posting a 33-0-1 record with 24 wins by way of knockout.

Fury most recently beat Derek Chisora by 10th-round technical knockout in December, but with the Brit unable to come to terms on a fight with Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk, he has turned his attention to crossover bouts in the combat sports world.

First on the agenda is Ngannou, who has been a pro MMA fighter since 2013 and is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League.

Ngannou, 37, boasts an MMA record of 17-3 with 12 knockout victories. He beat Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title in March 2021 and successfully defended it against Ciryl Gane January 2022 before vacating it and leaving UFC when the two sides could not come to terms on a new contract.

Now, Ngannou is set for his first pro boxing fight against Fury in Saudi Arabia on Oct. 28.

Due to his significant edge in terms of size and boxing experience, Fury is widely expected to beat Ngannou, at which point he will apparently have an MMA legend in his crosshairs.

The 36-year-old Jones is in the argument as being the greatest pound-for-pound MMA fighter of all time, as he is 27-1 with one no contest in his career.

Jones' only loss was a disqualification for illegal elbows against Matt Hamill in 2009, but he has otherwise largely dominated throughout his career.

Jones has held both the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, and he is scheduled to defend the heavyweight championship against Miocic at UFC 295 in November.

If Fury and Jones both take care of business, there would likely be plenty of interest from combat sports fans in a fight between them, although it is unclear if UFC would be willing to let Jones take the bout.

Ahead of former UFC star Francis Ngannou's upcoming boxing match against world heavyweight champion boxer Tyson Fury, legendary boxer Mike Tyson released a video of Ngannou training for the fight.

In video posted Friday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Ngannou displays good power and quickness inside the ring with Tyson looking on:

Tyson accompanied the video with a tweet in which he praised Ngannou's "dedication" and noted that the Cameroonian fighter "knows how to box."

Ngannou became a professional MMA fighter in 2013 and made his UFC debut in 2015. At UFC 260 in March 2021, Ngannou beat Stipe Miocic to become UFC heavyweight champion for the first time.

He successfully defended the title against Cyril Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022, but when Ngannou and UFC were unable to come to terms on a new contract, he left the promotion and signed with the Professional Fighters League.

The 17-3 MMA fighter has yet to compete in a PFL bout, instead focusing on a massive crossover fight with Fury, scheduled for Oct. 28 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Last month, Ngannou announced in a press release that Mike Tyson would serve as his trainer for the clash with Fury.

Tyson expressed excitement over the partnership and insisted that he and Ngannou are entering the bout with the plan and intention to pull off the upset:

"It is no secret I back Ngannou 100 percent in this face-off of champions. He has one hard punch, and when it lands, it's game over. I am looking forward to working with Ngannou and supporting his transition from the Octagon to the boxing ring.

"He isn't a combat novice; he is a world champion. He knows how to compete when the bell rings, but the key will be combining his energy and combat skills into his punches and using his agility to move swiftly around the ring then delivering the knock-out blow. We're here to win."

In Tyson, Ngannou has perhaps the perfect trainer, as "Iron" Mike is among the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.

The 57-year-old was a multi-time world champion and reigned as undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990. In 58 career fights, he went 50-6 with two no contests, and 44 of his wins were by way of knockout.

While Ngannou is an elite MMA heavyweight, he will have his work cut out for him against Fury, who is the reigning WBC heavyweight champion and has never lost in his career, going 33-0-1.

As is often the case for him, the 6'9" Fury will have a significant size advantage over the 6'4" Ngannou, meaning Ngannou will likely have to have a true understanding of the science of boxing in order to compete.

Francis Ngannou isn't lacking in confidence regarding his Oct. 28 boxing encounter with Tyson Fury.

The MMA star told TMZ Sports he'll score at least one knockdown.

"He's good at coming back up," he said. "... We gonna find out how good he is, but he's gonna hit that canvas."

Ngannou has 12 knockouts in his 20 MMA fights. Prior to winning a unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 in January 2022, he had won five straight fights by knockout or TKO.

The 36-year-old is also learning from one of the most notable knockout artists of his generation. Mike Tyson is training him to sharpen his skills.

Fury has been knocked down just six times across his career, four of which came courtesy of Deontay Wilder. While possible, flooring the 6'9" heavyweight will certainly be difficult for somebody who's getting a crash course in boxing.

Not surprisingly, Fury likes his odds of getting the better of Ngannou regardless of who shows up in his opponent's camp.

The beauty of boxing is that it only takes one punch for Ngannou to shock the world.