Much of the pre-fight Tyson Fury vs Francis Nagnnou talk was about the undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk, planned for December 23.
However, Ngannou didn’t follow the script, knocking Fury down in the third round and losing a tight split decision in what could have been the biggest upset in the sport’s history. He also caused a small cut on the Brit’s forehead.
Speaking to Boxing King Media after the event, Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, praised Ngannou’s performance and said it was never going to be a formality.
“It was a superb event and it was a very exciting fight.
It didn’t turn out how I expected it to but it was an exciting fight. He fought really well, he’s strong and he’s a tough guy and all these people who thought it was going to be a formality, I said to you before you never know, you’ve got two big guys in the ring and he had everything to gain and nothing to lose and he’s gained a lot tonight.”
Warren went on to officially rule out the highly-touted December date for Fury’s showdown with Usyk,
“Tyson did what he always does and came away with the win and now we’ll look to the future, we know the fights been made with Usyk and hopefully there will be a date nailed down soon, as soon as Tyson feels like he’s ready to go.
It was a harder fight than Chisora and it was a harder fight than Dillian Whyte, that’s a fact.
No, we won’t be going for that [December date], he won’t be ready for that. It was a tough, tough fight. He’ll need time out to heal his body, time that takes and then get back in to camp he’ll only have about five or six weeks training, so it’s not going to happen.”
Binding contracts are still signed for the two champions to fight, with an updated timeframe expected in the coming weeks.
Rival promoter, Eddie Hearn, now thinks that fight is a ‘mismatch’ and called for Fury to face Anthony Joshua instead.