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Fury, the WBC Heavyweight champion, claimed a controversial split decision victory over former UFC star Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on Saturday evening.
While Ngannou put Fury on the canvas in round three after connecting with a left hook, two of the three judges favoured Fury at 96-93 and 95-94 after ten rounds.
“That definitely wasn’t in the script,” Fury told TNT Sports, amid a host of boxing fans on social media insisting Ngannou had been robbed.
“I got caught round the back of the head [for the knockdown]. I wasn’t hurt. I got up and got back to my boxing. He’s an awkward man and a good puncher and I respect him a lot. He’s given me one of my toughest fights of the last 10 years.”
The scorecards controversially fell in favour of the seasoned boxer, who won the commemorative ‘Riyadh champion’ belt ahead of Ngannou.
Mike Tyson reacts to Francis Ngannou’s ‘Superman’ punch on Tyson Fury
Credit: Instagram @miketyson
In turn, Fury extended his unbeaten record to 35, with 34 wins and one draw.
While Ngannou, who was making his competitive boxing debut, was relatively stoic in his interviews after the bout, he has since taken to X, formally Twitter, to make a veiled criticism of the judge’s scorecards.
Ngannou said: “This boxing world [is] wild but some judges should be responsible for their actions. This type of stuff is what f****s up people’s career[s].”
In response to MMA fighter Cedric Doumbe’s tweet, insisting Ngannou had won, the Cameroonian replied: “I’m not even surprised because I expected it. Thank you.”
Finally, Ngannou posted the famous meme of a sheepish James shrugging at the camera, alongside the caption: “‘You think you can just go into boxing and beat the best heavyweight of this generation?!’ Me:”
