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Lennox Lewis Blames Fury’s “Love Handles” For Ngannou Performance: ‘His Stock Is Down’

Written by Kerr Ferguson on 29th October 2023.

Ngannou and Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury was taken the ten-round distance this weekend in Saudi Arabia by Francis Ngannou – a man many thought had no business being in the ring with him.

The crossover contest saw Ngannou knock Fury down with a counter left hook in the third round, and box competitively throughout. Fury, whose world title was not on the line, won via split decision.

On commentary duties was none other than Lennox Lewis – the last man to be undisputed in the heavyweight division.

Fans expected to see ‘The Lion’ witness an easy Fury victory before squaring up with Oleksandr Usyk, also in attendance, to cement the fight date for the next sole champion in the division.

Instead, the mood was much lower than expected post-fight. All of the previous talk of a December 23 date was dampened significantly and, despite Usyk doing a head-to-head with Fury, the excitement in the building was all for Ngannou.

Although Lewis believes the Brit won the fight, he said his stock was down and accused him of not having a full camp.

“The lion can’t let the shark come into the jungle and nearly beat him. Ngannou’s stock is up. Fury’s stock is down in a lacklustre win for Fury.”

“Just by looking at those love handles, I thought to myself, no way Fury had a full camp… I’m thinking he maybe got in 4-6 weeks… This definitely wasn’t same Fury who beat Wilder.”

That suggestions of half a normal training regime is something that Fury went out of his way to dismiss in the build-up.

When there was talk of him not taking Ngannou as seriously because of his lack of experience, ‘The Gypsy King’ assured fans that he had put in a full twelve weeks in the gym, and even claimed he had been preparing more diligently than he had in the past against the likes of Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.