Two of the biggest combat sports stars on the planet faced off when Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou clashed in Saudi Arabia.
Legendary figures from MMA and boxing, along with soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo and music icon Eminem, among others, made their presence felt at the event in front of a sold-out crowd. Ngannou, from Cameroon, appropriately came out to “Started from the Bottom,” while Fury came out to “Pretty Woman.”
And what a fight this turned out to be. They circled the ring, with power shots thrown by both heavyweights. Social media was buzzing and fans in the arena were on their feet.
By the end of the night, who won the fight?
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Did Tyson Fury beat Francis Ngannou?
The short answer is yes, Fury beat Ngannou… barely.
The fight went the distance, with Ngannou holding his own, and then some, against the Englishman. In the end, Fury won via split decision (94-95, 96-93, 95-94).
“I’m not giving any excuse, I know I came up short,” Ngannou said.
CompuBox had Ngannou land 59 of 231 punches (25.5%), with Fury landing 71 of 223 shots (31.8%). Ngannou landed double-digit shots only once, the same as Fury.
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However, Ngannou had the highlight of the night when he sensationally dropped Fury in the third. Not only was he knocked down, but Fury sustained a cut on his forehead. In the later rounds, Ngannou, competing past five rounds for the first time in his career, continued to land hard shots against Fury, who was tentative with his attack for the first time in years.
In the end, “The Gypsy King” remained unbeaten
Due to Fury’s cut, it’s unknown if his fight against unified champ Oleksandr Usyk will go ahead on the planned date of December 23, but the fight is on.
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