Tyson Fury survives knockdown, beats Francis Ngannou by split decision

Tyson Fury was supposed to run through Francis Ngannou. Instead, he had one of his hardest fights in a long time.

Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, narrowly defeated Ngannou, the former UFC heavyweight titleholder, via split decision (94-95, 96-93, 95-94) in a 10-round professional boxing match Saturday evening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury's heavyweight title wasn't on the line in the highly anticipated crossover bout.

"That definitely wasn't in the script," Fury said of the close fight. "Francis is a hell of a fighter. Strong, big puncher, and a lot better of a boxer than we all thought he would ever be.

"He gave me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years," Fury added.

The story of the fight is Ngannou drastically exceeding expectations in his pro boxing debut.

He scored the lone knockdown of the match, shocking Fury with a left hook in the third round.

Fury called it a "flash knockdown" and said he was "alright."

"I got back up, and it was what it was," Fury said. "Got back to my boxing."

But the positive moments didn't end there for Ngannou. He stood in the ring and traded punches with Fury for all 10 rounds, an incredible feat in itself. Without a single pro or amateur boxing match to his name, Ngannou came very close to beating the No. 1 heavyweight and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. "The Predator" fell short by one point on the third judge's scorecard.

Ngannou said postfight he was "feeling fantastic" despite the defeat.

"I know I came up short. But I'm gonna go back and work harder - with a little more experience this time, a little more feeling of the game - and come back even stronger," Ngannou said.

"At first, I was a little nervous. This (is a) new sport that I never did. ... Now I know I can do this shit."

However, Ngannou didn't walk away entirely satisfied.

"I really intended to come here and go home with the victory," Ngannou said. "I wanted the victory. (My goal) wasn't just to come here and (show that I could) box and go home. It was to win."

Fury bested Ngannou in punches landed by a margin of 71-59, while Ngannou edged Fury 37-32 in power punches landed.

Fury stayed busier than Ngannou in the early moments of the fight, stinging him with a solid right. The second round was better for Ngannou, who then made a huge statement by dropping Fury with the left punch in the third.

Fury found his rhythm in the fifth and sixth rounds, landing his jab with consistency. At that point, Fury was controlling the pace of the fight. Ngannou's movement noticeably slowed, and he appeared to tire.

But Ngannou bounced back in a competitive eighth round before having a great ninth, opening up with a barrage of punches. He tagged Fury in the clinch. The 10th round was close, and Ngannou threw a Superman punch in the final moments.

"He was very awkward," Fury said of Ngannou's style. "He wasn't coming forward. He was just standing back, waiting for me to land my punches, and then (he'd) try to counter."

Fury will now focus on an undisputed heavyweight title fight against Oleksandr Usyk. The two heavyweight champions faced off in the ring after Saturday's bout. No date was announced.

Fury and Usyk reached a deal for their long-awaited bout in the weeks leading up to Fury-Ngannou. The target date was Dec. 23, but Fury and his promoter, Frank Warren, didn't commit Friday to making that quick of a turnaround. Fury suffered a cut on his face against Ngannou.

Fury said he's still confident he'll beat Usyk despite a subpar performance against Ngannou.

Ngannou said he's willing to "run it back again soon," but Fury is committed to fighting Usyk next. Fury said there's no rematch clause in the contract, though he also appeared interested in a rematch.

"I would like to do it again down the line," Fury said. "I'm sure Francis would like to do it as well. But we got (Usyk) to deal with next."

Fury retained his WBC heavyweight title in three consecutive bouts before facing Ngannou, including in an 11th-round knockout win over Deontay Wilder in a 2021 trilogy bout. Fury, 35, was coming off a stoppage win over Derek Chisora in his native England last December. He now holds a 35-0-1 career record.

Ngannou falls to 0-1 as a pro boxer, though his stock has risen exponentially.

"The Predator" ended a 21-month layoff from combat sports - the longest of his career - against Fury. He was coming off a unanimous decision win over Ciryl Gane in a UFC heavyweight title defense in January 2022. Ngannou spent the rest of that year recovering from knee surgery.

The Cameroonian parted ways with the UFC as a free agent in January and signed an MMA deal with the PFL that allows him to pursue opportunities in boxing. He's expected to return to MMA and make his PFL debut in February or March.

Known as one of the hardest punchers in MMA history, Ngannou is 17-3 in that sport with 11 knockouts. He won the UFC heavyweight belt by finishing Stipe Miocic in March 2021. Ngannou, 37, was still the champion when he left the UFC.