*** Highlights! Ngannou Nearly Sleeps Fury, Loses Razor-Thin Decision ***
With an undisputed (and lucrative) clash against Oleksandr Usyk finally on the horizon, WBC Heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, makes a pit stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this afternoon (Sat., Oct. 28, 2023) to battle former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight kingpin, Francis Ngannou.
It’s a “Battle of the Baddest!”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of the “Fury vs. Ngannou”-led pay-per-view (PPV) main card right below. The PPV main card broadcast kicks off on ESPN+ PPV at 2 p.m. ET (order it here), while “The Gypsy King” and “The Predator” are expected to make their ring walks around 6 p.m. ET.
Both men are set for their first appearances of 2023; Fury last saw action in Dec. 2022, brutalizing Derek Chisora in a wholly unnecessary rematch (watch highlights), while Ngannou hasn’t laced them up since gritting his way past Ciryl Gane 11 months prior and subsequently parting ways with UFC.
It’s worth noting that Fury’s title won’t be on the line here (full rules breakdown here), though falling to a non-boxer would likely sting worse than losing his hardware.
The all-Heavyweight PPV lineup sees Fabio Wardley defend his British title against David Adeleye, former world champ Joseph Parker face knockout artist Simon Kean, fast-rising contender Martin Bakole fight tricky veteran Carlos Takam, and unbeaten finisher, Arslanbek Makhmudov, open the show against Junior Anthony Wright.
Fury Vs. Ngannou Quick Results:
Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou — Fury def. Ngannou by split decision (94-95, 96-93. 95-94) — HIGHLIGHTS!
Fabio Wardley vs. David Adeleye — Wardley def. Adeleye by TKO at 2:43 of Round Seven — HIGHLIGHTS!
Joseph Parker vs. Simon Kean — Parker def. Kean by KO at 2:04 of Round Three — HIGHLIGHTS!
Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Junior Anthony Wright — Makhmudov def. Wright by TKO at 1:10 of Round One — HIGHLIGHTS!
Moses Itauma vs Istvan Bernath — Itauma def. Bernath by TKO at 1:53 of Round One — HIGHLIGHTS!
Martin Bakole vs. Carlos Takam — Bakole def. Takam by TKO at 2:15 of Round Four
Fury Vs. Ngannou Round-By-Round Updates:
Heavyweight: Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou
Round one: Fury lands a body jab, then a counter right as Ngannou tries to do the same. High-low jabs by Fury, who avoids an overhand right. Clinch; Fury takes a very long time to disengage. Trading jabs halfway through. Both men leaning heavily on the jab. Ngannou with a right to the body. Hard 1-2 from Fury, the best shot of the fight so far. Ngannou falls short with a combo, eats a stiff jab. 10-9 Fury.
Round two: Ngannou on the front foot, Fury keeping him at bay with jabs. Ngannou unable to consistently get inside so far as Fury pops him with the jab. Counter hook by Ngannou, who lands some punches when Fury tries to tie up. Fury switches southpaw, keeping his right hand in Ngannou’s face halfway through. Fury 1-2. He’s sporting a cut in the middle of the forehead. Both swing big as Fury ties up. Another clinch from Fury. Ngannou lands some short punches when Fury next tries to tie up. Another Fury clinch. 10-9, 20-18 Fury.
Round three: Double jab from Ngannou. 1-2-3 lands for him, his best shots so far. He tries to follow to the body. Two-piece from Fury. Ngannou goes southpaw, lands a right hook. Fury clinches. Halfway through. Fury unable to tie up. He punches into the clinch. They trade in center ring and Ngannou finds the mark with a massive left hook, sending Fury to the mat. It doesn’t look like a hard knockdown and Fury’s up in plenty of time. Ngannou stays patient and Fury waits out the round. 10-8 Ngannou, 28-28.
Round four: Solid right cross by Ngannou in the early going. Body shots, check hook. Very good work on the front foot so far. Fury punches into the clinch. Again. Straight lefts from Fury, avoids return fire halfway through. Fury clinching excessively, Ngannou holding his own in terms of strength. Right hand from Fury, clinch. Two-piece, overhand right. Ngannou to the body. 10-9, 38-37 Fury.
Round five: Good exchange in center ring to start the round. 1-1-3 from Fury. Ngannou lands a solid straight left, fighting southpaw. Fury ties up after whiffing on a hook. Glancing overhand, clinch halfway through. Both punch in the clinch. Both look for big uppercuts. Heavy right straights from Fury; Ngannou trying to punch as he’s hit but he’s getting clipped. 10-9, 48-46 Fury.
Round six: Fury light on his feet, firing the jab. Ngannou whiffs on a right cross. Left hook from Fury, avoids another long right. Jabs from Fury. Ngannou backs him to the corner and lands a solid combo. 1-2 into the clinch, some roughhousing by Ngannou. Fury sharpshooting off the back foot, lands a nice chopping right. Ngannou is looking labored. Ngannou falls short with another 1-2. 10-9, 58-55 Fury.
Round seven: Turns out that chopping right last time was a clean elbow. Wonder if it made Francis nostalgic.
Hard southpaw 1-2 from Ngannou. Solid straight left. Fury keeping his distance, pumping the jab. Fury not landing a ton but not getting hit, either. Halfway through. Combo from Fury into an awkward clinch that turns into a haphazard double-leg. Ngannou spending a ton of time southpaw. Fury flashing the jab. Not a lot actually happened. 10-9 Ngannou, 67-65 Fury.
Round eight: Early clinch. Solid body shots from Ngannou, then a pair of good lefts exiting the clinch. Both whiff, clinch. More clinching. Short uppercut from Fury, clinch.Heavy flurry from Ngannou, who walks through an uppercut halfway through. Big right cross from Fury, solid flurries from Ngannou. Ngannou taking it to Fury. Fury clinches. Again and they trade short body shots. Ngannou 1-2, clinch. Ngannou avoids a 1-2, clinch. 10-9 Ngannou, 76-75 Fury.
Round nine: Straight left from Ngannou to start the round. Fury launches a series of jabs, then a solid right cross. Ngannou misses an overhand right, clinch. Lots of staring as we hit the midpoint. Fury pops him with some jabs and straights. Nice 1-3. Ngannou’s letting this slip through his fingers. Solid jabs from Fury. Ngannou waits out the round. 10-9, 86-84 Fury.
Round ten: Both men showing some pep in their steps. Stiff jab from Fury, avoids a left hook in return. No major punches in the first minute. Ngannou looks for body shots, eats a jab. Halfway through the round. More jabs from Fury. Ngannou not putting his foot on the gas. He looks for punches in the clinch. Superman punch attempt. Lots of posturing. Jab lands for Ngannou. 10-9, 96-93 Fury.
Final result: Fury def. Ngannou by split decision — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Heavyweight: Fabio Wardley vs. David Adeleye
Round one: Early clinch from Adeleye. Wardley with a right downstairs, eats a jab in return. 1-2 downstairs. Adeleye digs a left hook downstairs. Wardley slowly advancing as Adeleye looks to fence with the jab. Halfway through. Surprisingly slow round so far. There’s a combo from Wardley, starting to the body. Adeleye tries to fight him off with a left hook. Nice left hook by Adeleye. Wardley tries to open up in the corner. 10-9 Wardley.
Round two: Adeleye whiffs on a left hook and ties up. Ref admonishes him, not entirely sure what for. Wardley with some more right hands to the body. Sharp jab from Adeleye, clinch. Both land solid shots inside. Wardley looks for a body shots, eats a jab halfway through. Wardley tries to jab, clinch. Adeleye warned again for his clinch tactics. Again he clinches. Heavy counter right from Wardley to answer a jab. Big 1-2 soon after. 10-9, 20-18 Wardley.
Round three: Heavy pressure from Wardley early. Big right hands in the corner, Adeleye ties up to survive and blatantly shoves Wardley’s head away with his forearm to earn another warning from the ref. Counter right from Adeleye, WArdley tries a 3-2. Body shots in the corner by Wardley. Adeleye lands a right hand, eats more body shots for it. Halfway through. Jab to clinch from Wardley. Adeleye continuing to give ground and not having a ton of success with his punches. They trade before tying up, uppercut by Adeleye on the exit. Solid jab. Wardley grazes him with an overhand right in the corner and continues to pursue. 10-9, 30-27 Wardley.
Round four: Adeleye jabs into the clinch. Not a ton of activity so far this round. More clinching. halfway through. Wardley backs him to the ropes, finally opens up a bit, gets clinched. Wardley ties up when Adeleye tries to jab. Wardley pops him with a double jab and opens up to the body, only to eat a hard left hook. Clinch. Wardley continuing to push forward, more body work in the corner, clinch. 10-9, 40-36 Wardley.
Round five: Adeleye tries to jab, ties up. Ref brings them together to tell them to knock it off. 1-2 from Wardley. Double jab, check hook. Cuffing left hook from Adeleye, then to the body. Jab exchange, clinch. Halfway through. Nice jab by Adeleye, Wardley to the body in return. Clinch. Adeleye’s jab is working but Wardley’s is heavier and he’s landing more power shots. As I type that, Adeleye has his best sequence of the fight with some big shots against the ropes. Wardley ties up, then goes back to pressuring. Adeleye hops in with a jab and eats a heavy counter right, then a jab behind it. 10-9 Adeleye, 49-46 Wardley.
Round six: Big left hooks from Adeleye to start the round. Wardley ties up and Adeleye lands some questionably legal clinch shots, earning yet another warning from the ref. Wardley continues to advance. Stiff jabs in the corner. Wardley sticking to jabs halfway through. Jab to clinch by Adeleye. Wardley landing some heavy jabs but missing on the power shots. Adeleye tries an uppercut. 1-2 in the corner from Wardley, then another thudding jab. 10-9, 59-55 Wardley.
Round seven: More jabs from Wardley. Adeleye clinches. Adeleye continuing to eat heavy jabs and not do a whole lot in response. Clinch at the midway point. More clinching. Adeleye gets a little lazy on the exit and Wardley clubs him with a vicious right cross-left hook combo to drop him. Adeleye beats the count and waves him on, trading monster shots. Wardley selling out for the finish and, as Adeleye stumbles to the corner, he gets it. Adeleye is furious and shoves the ref away before giving him an arm punch to the body, but it’s too late.
Final result: Wardley def. Adeleye via technical knockout — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Heavyweight: Joseph Parker vs. Simon Kean
Round one: Quick hands from Parker prompts a clinch. Right hand downstairs. Double jab from Kean, body work from Parker. Solid cross from Kean makes Parker tie up halfway through. Parker double jab, clinch. Tight 1-2 from Parker, then another good two-piece and a pair of body shots. Parker check hook, short punches from Kean. Kean ends the round with a 1-2-3. 10-9 Parker.
Round two: Parker still showing off the quicker hands. Solid jabs. Counter left hook. 1-2 from Kean. High-low 1-2 by Parker in return. More jabs from Parker, overhand right halfway through. He’s outworking Kean by quite a bit. Stiff jab to combo. Nice left downstairs. Kean not doing much besides jabbing. He ties up at the 10-second mark. 10-9, 20-18 Parker
Round three: Trading jabs to start the round. Hard 1-2 from Parker, Kean tries to mug inside. Another clinch from Kean. Parker controlling things with his jab. Hard uppercut halfway through and he follows with some heavy combos. Kean waves him on, only to eat another nasty uppercut that puts him down for the full count.
Final result: Parker def. Kean via knockout — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Heavyweight: Arslanbek Makhmudov vs. Junior Anthony Wright
Round one: Early clinch. Wright looks for combos, lands a solid jab. He dodges a jab, lands a body shot, and clinches. Clubbing right by Makhmuedov on the exit. Wright meets him in the center and starts trading, which proves a mistake when Makhmudov smashes him to the mat with a 2-3 combo. Wright beats the count and gets right back in Makhmudov’s face, only to walk into a straight right that freezes him in place and sends the ref into action.
Final result: Makhmudov def. Wright by TKO — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
Heavyweight: Moses Itauma vs. Istvan Bernath
Round one: Itauma working the jab early, sneaks in a left hook to the body. Combination on the ropes, Bernath comes back with right hands. Solid body work from Itauma. Itauma bounces some punches off Bernath’s high guard, then lands another body shot. When they go back to center ring, Itauma floors him with a power jab. Bernath beats the count, but gets rattled again by a straight left and has to clinch. Uppercut to right hook from Itauma has Bernath reeling and a pair of heavy body shots send the ref into action.
Final result: Itauma def. Bernath by TKO — WATCH HIGHLIGHTS!
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