Francis Ngannou lost to Tyson Fury in his boxing debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But the former UFC star did come away with a major takeaway from the Saturday night defeat — he is built for this.
Ngannou (0-1) matched up punch-for-punch against the undefeated Fury (34-0-1) and even scored a 3rd-round knockdown against the WBC heavyweight champion.
Fury ended up winning via split decision. Some fans even felt as though Ngannou did enough to earn the upset win.
The Cameroonian-French fighter did not let the result bother him after the match. Instead, he sent out a warning to the rest of the heavyweight division after proving he could hold his own with one of the sport’s top fighters.
“This new sport that I never did, that I don’t really feel it. Now I know I can do this s–t. And hey, baby. Get ready. Get ready. A wolf is in the house,” said Ngannou after the fight.
https://twitter.com/JustTheFights/status/1718411649068220742
Ngannou had nothing to lose but everything to gain against Fury. The former UFC heavyweight champion parted ways with the MMA promotion due to a contract dispute earlier this year.
Armed with a legendary former heavyweight champ training him and the confidence from the fight against Fury, Ngannou could be a serious threat in the ring in the years to come.
Fury, on the other hand, had everything to lose but nothing to gain. Fury was expected to handily beat Ngannou, who had never fought in a professional boxing match before. But a loss could have potentially impacted Fury’s looming megafight against rival Oleksandr Usyk slated for later this year.
