The UK pay-per-view broadcast for Tyson Fury’s crossover contest with Francis Ngannou got off to a shaky start, with the broadcast showing a ‘fault’ message two fights in.
Fury-Ngannou face off in one of the biggest spectacles of the 2023 sporting calendar. The Brit is set to welcome the MMA man to the squared circle for the first time in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Prior to their ten-rounder, there’s a six-fight undercard with five of those being in the heavyweight ranks.
Super-welterweight Jack McGann kicked the show off with an impressive knockout of Alcibiade Duran – the son of one Robert Duran.
Following that, Congolese-born heavyweight, Martin Bakole, demolished Carlos Takam inside four rounds, the underdog stopped on his feet by the referee after taking some brutal shots from the near-300 pound giant.
The broadcast then had a hiccup, with an error message displayed for UK fans:
“We apologise for the break in transmission and hope to correct the fault shortly.”
That sat for around 30 minutes, with the undercard paused in the temporary arena built just outside the Boulevard Hall stadium where the main event and opening ceremony for Riyadh Season will take place.
Fans immediately took to social media for answers after paying £21.95 for the pleasure, with some complaining and worried that they were missing the action.
The undercard to follow features British prospect, Moses Itauma, as well as Arslanbek Makhmudov, Jospeh Parker and a likely fight of the night between British Heavyweight Champion, Fabio Wardley and challenger David Adeleye.
With the main even set for 11PM UK time, fans will hope the delay doesn’t stretch it much longer. The issue was with the TNT Sports broadcast from the arena only, and ESPN in the States and DAZN for some other territories remained in working order.
As of writing, the broadcast is live but with intermittent audio issues.