The judges gave him two scores of 96-93 and 95-94 in what Tyson Fury called one of his hardest fights in the past ten years, with Ngannou receiving the third score of 95-94.
The 35-year-old Fury relied mostly on his jab early in the closely contested bout, only momentarily moving to left-handed sparring in the second round as Ngannou gained momentum and even opened a gash above Fury’s left eye.
Ngannou, 37, showed he wasn’t going away in the third round when Fury went to the ground with an incredible left hook.
Throughout his career, Fury has only been knocked down seven times.
Early in the fourth round, Ngannou took Fury by surprise, but the undefeated heavyweight champion managed to stay upright, and the remainder of the round was well matched.
Early in the tenth round, supporters could be heard yelling, “Francis! Francis!” but in the end, the former UFC heavyweight champion’s debut matchup with a professional boxer was decided by a contentious split decision.
Ngannou received a score of 95-94 from one judge, while Fury received scores of 95-94 and 96-93 from the other two officials.
CompuBox data show that in addition to the knockdown, Ngannou scored 37 power shots compared to 32 for Fury. Fury outlanded Ngannou with fewer punches overall (71–59), including 14 in the last two rounds.
Fury said that Ngannou is a “better boxer than we all thought he would be” and that the bout was one of his “toughest” in the previous ten years.
Kanye West, Eminem, Cristiano Ronaldo, Conor McGregor, the main event of the UFC, Sugar Ray Leonard, Manny Pacquiao, and other celebrities were also present at the fight.
Fury’s focus is now on his matchup with Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
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