Fans were shocked to see Tyson Fury knocked down and taken the distance by former UFC Champion Francis Ngannou on his boxing debut.
Despite his unexpected success, the MMA man lost via split decision – something he, along with some others in the sport, has heavily disputed.
Writing in his column in The Mirror, Barry McGuigan said Ngannou impressed but didn’t deserve the win on the scorecards.
“A mea culpa from me. I was wrong about Francis Ngannou. He can box, as his performance against Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia showed.”
“He obviously had some exposure to it before he migrated to France and began his MMA career. However, contrary to the opinion of many, Fury deserved to get the result.
Though in winning the fight he did not cover himself in glory. And despite the wild reaction to Ngannou’s display, I’m not sure he has re-invented the wheel. Ngannou is one dimensional with a long, left hook and a good right hand. There were no sequences to his punching. He cannot put combinations together effectively.
Fury fell over Ngannou’s straight right then walked into a clubbing left hook. Fury wasn’t hurt, but it changed the complexion of the fight completely.”
Despite recognising Fury as the clear victor, the Hall of Famer was not impressed by how he went about it.
“Fury should have been able to outbox Ngannou and get him out of there. He never got close to that. Fury is not a devastating puncher. He is tall with decent hand speed, light on his feet and moves well. But he did not use his range or his skill.
Ngannou is a big, strong fella, but should not have been good enough to take the world champion ten rounds, especially as he seemed to run out of gas in the latter rounds. His moment came early. The knockdown changed everything. Fury was nervous and circumspect after that. I’m not sure Fury took him seriously enough.”
The general consensus is that the Brit will need to be at they very top of his game for his next fight – an undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.