Ngannou gave me one of my toughest fights in 10 years - Fury

WBC heavyweight boxing champion, Tyson Fury has admitted his surprise at the skills of UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, after he defeated him by a controversial split decision on Sunday morning at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury may have won Ngannou who made his professional boxing debut but the Cameroonian ended up being the real winner by shocking the world with his performance.

Ngannou knocked Fury to the floor and came as close as anyone has come to beating Fury. Two judges scored it in favor of Fury with scores of 96-93 and 95-94 while a third judge had it for Ngannou with a 95-94 score.

When asked if anything surprised him about Ngannou’s approach, Fury replied; “He’s a very awkward man, and he’s a good puncher. I respect him a lot, before the fight and afterward.

“He wasn’t coming forward. He was just standing back waiting for me to land my punches and then trying to counter. He’s a good fighter. He’s given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years.”