The deserts of Saudi Arabia quaked on Saturday night as Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and Francis “The Predator” Ngannou faced off in the Battle of the Baddest. Mike Tyson’s name surrounded the tale, one man having been named after him, the other trained by him. The grandeur of the fight ought to have been written in the stars.
The fight concluded with a split decision favouring Fury and extending his undefeated record to a staggering 34-0-1 (W-L-D). There wasn’t much in it either, with one scorecard showing 95-94 for Ngannou whilst the other two showed 96-93 and 95-94 in favour of Fury. Though the fight was officiated by the WBC and counted to both fighter’s professional records, Fury’s Heavyweight Title belt was not at risk.
Also important to note is Ngannou’s inexperience. Having a judge score in your favour against the Heavyweight Champion of the World in your professional debut is unheard of, and no one anticipated it, apart from perhaps Ngannou himself. The fight had many notable moments, but a brief overview of its course can be seen through its raw stats.
| Punches | Fury | Ngannou |
| Total landed | 71 | 59 |
| Total thrown | 223 | 231 |
| Percent | 32% | 26% |
| Jabs landed | 39 | 22 |
| Jabs thrown | 137 | 115 |
| Percent | 29% | 19% |
| Power landed | 32 | 37 |
| Power thrown | 86 | 116 |
| Percent | 37% | 32% |
The first round opened strong for Fury and he came out hard. He found Ngannou with his jab and, as is typical, both fighters seemed to be getting a feel for each other. The second round extended much of the same, with Ngannou defending well and getting comfortable switching between orthodox and southpaw – a tactic Fury employed to capitalise on his experience.
Heading into the third round Fury repeatedly feinted to throw off Ngannou’s balance, though it was Fury’s balance that ended up being tested. Fury jabs to find distance and then closes the distance into a clinch, a renowned tactic of Fury’s to push his weight onto the other fighter and wear out their legs over the rounds. Ngannou pushes away from the clinch with a right cross and an overhand left finds an off-balance Fury – splaying him out on the canvas. It was what Ngannou had been searching for all along, an opportunity to wield amongst his only advantages in the fight – raw power.
The next few rounds saw Fury using his experience to control his space and the fight, finding Ngannou with the jab frequently and repelling Ngannou’s lust for a power strike.
Then we entered round 8, a total wildcard in an already unfathomable fight. The newcomer Ngannou, who was largely assumed to gas out in the later rounds, seemed to be running on at least half a tank left. He put on a dominant performance in the round, placing Fury on the backpedal or in a clinch most of its duration.
Fury quickly found his rhythm again and took back the reins of the last two rounds, steering the fight to a close. The Gypsy King held onto his prowess as the best heavyweight of our generation – though not without a serious display of vulnerability in Ngannou’s challenge for the crown.
In my opinion, though Fury got the decision, Ngannou won the night.
This is not to say I thought the decision was wrong, in fact, the contrary. Despite the controversies, notably the knockdown and a wild elbow from Fury, Fury demonstrated he was the better fighter. For those unfamiliar with boxing, you probably saw the fight, saw the power of Ngannou’s strikes and in your mind came to the conclusion that he couldn’t have possibly lost.
In boxing, the power of your strikes doesn’t mean anything if you don’t KO or knock down the person from it. It boils down to who was finding their combos and who was scoring hits. And Fury was the man who accomplished that to the greatest degree of success Saturday night.
However, what I mean by Ngannou winning the night is that heading into the fight, if Ngannou were to simply survive Tyson’s fiery fury (wink wink) over the 10 rounds he would have been commended. Yet the fact he dropped Fury in the 3rd, won a late 8th comfortably and remained on his feet the whole fight is a whole other level. It’s simply not something that can be taught. Not even by Mike Tyson himself.
Looking to the future, Fury is bound to be shocked by the close challenge to his monarchy heading into a fight with Oleksandr Usyk in less than two months. The deals are already signed and Fury is set to return to Riyadh Stadium, the same in which he fought Saturday night. The question lingers whether the events of the Battle of The Baddest will haunt him or invigorate him in his next bout.
As for what Fury seems to think about his next opponent?
“He’s a smaller man than Francis. I always said Francis was a much more dangerous fight than Oleksandr”.
– Tyson “Gypsy King” Fury
He doesn’t seem all too concerned.
