They brought out the baddest men in MMA and boxing to fight in Riyadh. Unfortunately, they brought the baddest judges too.
Francis Ngannou did it. He put on the performance of a lifetime against Tyson Fury, knocking down the heavyweight boxing champion in the third rought and then pummeling him in the eighth. He controlled the ring, he forced Fury to fight at his pace, and shrugged off the “Gypsy King’s” attacks. He even shucked the bigger, heavier Fury off in several clinches. It was a masterful fight.
But it wasn’t enough, according to two of the three judges ringside in Riyadh. One would score the fight 95-94 for Ngannou. The other two: 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury.
Outrageous.
No one gave Francis Ngannou a chance coming into this bout. It was looking like it’d be another rough night for an MMA fighter in the boxing ring. But somehow “The Predator” put together a great gameplan that built on his strengths and shored up his weaknesses on the boxing end. His power was on point and his chin allowed him to push back when Fury attempted to bully him. To do so well and then get hosed by the judges is just terrible. And not exactly surprising.
The MMA world watching the event quickly turned to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustrations.
Ngannou lost the decision, but won the night, outlanding Fury 37-32 in power shots and dropping Fury in round 3. Fury had a 71-59 edge in landed punches. Ngannou might want back the last 2 rounds, when he landed just 6 of 38 punches to 13 of 37 for Fury. pic.twitter.com/KmusCCvF9I
— CompuBox (@CompuBox) October 28, 2023
Tyson fury lost and the boxing commentary biased af dumbasses they need to learn how to box ..
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) October 28, 2023
96-93?
Either Dana or John Fury must of been that judge— DT (@darrentill2) October 28, 2023
MMA fighters are easy boxing work??? Shut the fuck up.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) October 28, 2023
BOXING IS RIGGED! Most corrupt sport.
Tyson Fury defeats Tyson Ngannou #furyvsngannou pic.twitter.com/RYbq7F5TrT
— Nina-Marie Daniele (@ninamdrama) October 28, 2023
Bullshit.
Francis won that fight. I don’t care what anyone says.
People’s champ. All hail. pic.twitter.com/fGpUmvl5Bn
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 28, 2023
I thought Francis won but that’s boxing for ya https://t.co/3IG1xJKsTn
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) October 28, 2023
Francis!!! Super impressive and you can make the argument of him winning this! Conor pioneered the way for this, and Francis Ngannou busted the gates wide open! This is proof that with the right preparation that the MMA guys can more than hang with the best boxers around. FTR I…
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) October 28, 2023
Don’t care what anyone says. Ngannou won that fight #furyvsngannou
— Jessica Penne (@JessicaPenne) October 28, 2023
Hahaha boxing is a joke.
— Charles Jourdain (@JourdainAir) October 28, 2023
Almost! Never doubt that man again. @francis_ngannou what a beast! #furyvsngannou
— Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) October 28, 2023
Francis won the day he signed that contract and again tonight
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) October 28, 2023
I’m DONE WITH BOXING THE MOST CORRUPT SPORTS IN THE FUCKING WORLD… absolutely bullshit…. That’s way I will never pay a ppv again…. #boxing
— Renato Moicano UFC (@moicanoufc) October 28, 2023
Absolutel robbery I don’t care . Trust me nobody is a bigger fan of Tyson fury than I am! #furyvsngannou #BattleOfTheBaddest just imagine what that would have done to boxing it would have been game over !
— Javid Basharat (@JavidBasharat) October 28, 2023
Wow come on Francis Ngannou won this fight! ?
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) October 28, 2023
…………………
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) October 28, 2023
What a showing by Francis Ngannou ! That’s a win for Francis regardless #furyvsngannou
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) October 28, 2023
The conclusion is: boxing definitely has a judging problem. But let’s not get too high and mighty, because so does MMA. This weekend it’s Ngannou vs. Fury that’s causing outrage. On another weekend we’ll see scorecards just as bad or worse in the octagon. It’s truly a crossover problem. But to have it happen to our man Francis when he just beat Fury? It’s number one bulls—.