Tyson Fury, a World Boxing Council (WBC) Champion, who is widely regarded as the leading heavyweight in boxing, emerged victorious over Francis Ngannou in a spit decision which has been thoroughly criticized of being controversial.
Fury took on the Cameroonian and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion, Ngannou in a 10-round non-title star-studded bout in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with celebrities in attendance such as football icon Cristiano Ronaldo as well as former footballers like Rio Ferdinand, Luis Figo.
Also present were former boxing icons such as Oscar De La Hoya, Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson; who helped Ngannou prepare for this fight. Others present for the fight were UFC fighters Israel Adesanya A.K.A Stylebender and Conor McGregor, as well as musicians such as Kanye West and Eminem.
This was Ngannou’s first professional boxing contest and knocked down Fury in the third round but was denied victory as Fury won with a contentious split-decision.
Fury took the result 96-93 and 95-94 on 2 of the judges’ cards while the third judge had it 95-94 for Ngannou.
According to report, Ngannou made $10 million from the fight while Fury supposedly made about $50 million.
Fury was badly swollen around the left eye and has about 2 months to recover in time, for his heavily publicized fight for the undisputed world title happening on 23 December, 2023 against Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk who was present for the Fury versus Ngannou fight, stepped into ring after the bout to meet Fury and express his readiness to fight on the scheduled date. Fury responded that he was ready for the fight on the spot.
