Francis
Ngannou is well aware of how these things work.
While the former UFC heavyweight champion did everything in his
power to outduel Tyson Fury
in his professional boxing debut on Saturday in Saudia Arabia, he
knew that if the fight went the distance, the scorecards weren’t
likely going to be in his favor. That proved to be the case, as
Fury emerged with a hard-fought split decision their non-title
bout.
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However, Ngannou says Fury knows who really won that fight.
“If he was being honest, he would say I won that fight,” Ngannou
said in a post-fight interview with ESPN. “I won that
fight. There’s no question about it.
“Even before getting here, I knew if this fight gets to a decision,
I’m not winning – not because I didn’t do good, (but) because I’m
the new guy in the house. I come here and I just want to kick into
people’s business. There’s a structure of business out there and
you need to do a lot to destroy it. I wasn’t just expecting to win
like that in a decision. But it is what it is. I do my job. I know
that I did everything I could’ve done. I did my best. Maybe next
time I should just do better to convince people.”
Ngannou arguably landed the most impactful offense throughout the
contest, including a knockdown of Fury in the third round. While
Ngannou’s performance surprised many observers who expected Fury to
outclass him in the ring, “The Predator” entered the fight
expecting to win.
“That fact that I didn’t win surprised me. I came here tonight to
win,” he said. “I’m going back without that victory, which I was
looking for. But I did learn a lot tonight about the sport. This
was really my first time to fight and do a 10-round boxing match. I
can tell myself that I didn’t do bad against the No. 1 heavyweight
in the world. I’m just gonna go back and focus on that. And have at
least that experience to work on it, that feeling to work with it
and get prepared for the next time. I think this just gets me even
more excited and hungry to prove I was wounded, but I realized I
can bite.”
While Ngannou was well known for his quick finishing prowess in the
UFC, the focus on Saturday was managing his energy. It didn’t take
long for that approach to gain Fury’s respect. Ultimately, it
wasn’t quite enough to get the nod on the scorecards.
“Because when we started he said, ‘Let’s go to school.’ I knew he
was going to be like that. I knew everybody that doubted my ability
to box is gonna be like that,” Ngannou said. “Basically when I was
changing to southpaw, he wasn’t doing anything. So I realized he
was having a struggle right there at that moment… I didn’t want to
go crazy. The focus in this fight was not to push the power, to
fight. Just focus on fighting. Not put energy on everything and gas
out. If the knockout comes, it comes, then you fight to the
decision.”