Sports stars ticked off over decision in Tyson Fury-Francis Ngannou fight
Jan 22, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Francis Ngannou (red gloves) before his fight against Ciryl Gane during UFC 270 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Tyson Fury beat Francis Ngannou in the latter’s boxing debut on Saturday. Apparently, not everyone agreed with the result.
Fury (34-0-1) won via split decision against the former UFC heavyweight champion in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. One judge scored the bout 95-94 in favor of Ngannou. The other two scored it 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury.
Several stars from both the octagon and boxing ring weighed in on the fight with posts on X.
UFC fighter Nate Diaz called out both the result and the commentary from the match.
“Tyson fury lost and the boxing commentary biased af dumba–es they need to learn how to box,” Diaz wrote (censored by LBS).
Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis did not comment on the split decision, but he did criticize Fury for nearly losing to a first-time boxer.
The lion can’t let the shark come into the jungle and nearly beat him. Ngannou’s stock is up. Fury’s stock is down in a luckluster win for Fury. #FuryvsNgannou
— Lennox Lewis, CBE, CM (@LennoxLewis) October 29, 2023
Super middleweight unified champion Canelo Alvarez could only muster up a single emoji in reaction to Fury’s win.
😳
— Canelo Alvarez (@Canelo) October 28, 2023
It wasn’t just MMA and boxing personalities who weighed in. A handful of NBA stars were miffed at what they believed should have been an Ngannou victory. LeBron James, Damian Lillard, and Joel Embiid all weighed in on the fight.
Exactly why i don't watch boxing! C'mon man! 🤦🏾♂️
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 28, 2023
NO F WAY FRANCIS GOT ROBBED🇨🇲🇨🇲
— Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid) October 28, 2023
Lillard even called the match for Ngannou before the official announcement and was stunned to learn that Fury got the win.
Fury just lost that fight… wow
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) October 28, 2023
Wtf!?
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) October 28, 2023
Even Ngannou himself wasn’t afraid to criticize the judges shortly after the match.
Tyson should say thank you to those 2 judges because I didn't win this fight 🙄#FuryvsNgannou #RiyadhSeason
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) October 29, 2023
But Ngannou took the loss in stride during his post-fight interview. The 37-year-old fighter sent out a stern message following the defeat.
