Fury wins ‘toughest fight in 10 years’

RIYADH:

World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury defeated mixed martial artist Francis Ngannou in a split decision after their boxing match went the distance in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third round, but the 35-year-old British fighter, although shaken, managed to continue.

Unbeaten Fury, who earlier this week laughed off his opponent as a “big fat sausage”, then admitted the 37-year-old Cameroonian had effectively kept him off balance.

“He’s a very tough guy and he’s a good puncher and I have a lot of respect for him,” Fury said of Ngannou, adding that “it was probably my toughest fight in 10 years.”

Fury was the overwhelming favorite against boxing rookie Ngannou.

“This was my first boxing match, great experience – I’m not making any excuses,” Ngannou said in a ringside interview.

“I know I’m catching up, I’m going to come back and work harder … now I know I can do this.”

Fury came out swinging in the first round with a hard right hand, but suffered a cut to the forehead in the second round and looked particularly sluggish after hitting the mat in the third.

The final rounds dragged as both men tired, neither able to land a decisive blow.

“I don’t know how close it was, but I got the win and that was it,” Fury said.

“Fair play to Francis, he cut my head off here. It was a good fight.”

Fury’s WBC heavyweight belt was not on the line for the “Battle of the Villains” in the capital Riyadh, but Saudi officials nevertheless hoped it would further boost the Gulf kingdom’s reputation as a top boxing destination.

With all parties desperate to give the contest some sporting legitimacy, the WBC had created a “Champion of Riyadh” belt to allow the winner to walk around the ring at the end with something other than a fat pay cheque.

Fury has been linked with a £50 million ($60.6 million) payout from Sunday’s exhibition bout, while he has told the British press that Ngannou will earn £10 million.

Fury has a much more serious fight in Riyadh in December against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk, who currently holds the other three world titles.

“I’m going home, I’m in training camp for 12 weeks,” he said on Sunday.

“I’m going to get a lot of rest and see what’s next for us.”

Saudi Arabia has hosted a number of high-profile bouts in recent years, including 2019’s “Clash on the Dunes,” in which Anthony Joshua reclaimed his world heavyweight crown from Andy Ruiz, and last year’s “Rage on the Red Sea” in Jeddah. in which Joshua lost a split decision to Usyk.

Saudi officials say domestic interest in boxing has grown in recent years.

They aim to have 500,000 boxers in the kingdom by 2030 as part of a wider sporting push under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s vision 2030 reform programme.

Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo, now in the Saudi Pro League, and rappers Kanye West and Eminem were on hand for Sunday’s event that marked the start of the Riyadh Season, a four-month series of concerts and sporting events aimed at making Saudi Arabia more attractive to tourists. .

Celebrations continued despite concerns that the Israel-Hamas war could cause unrest in the wider region.

Turki Al Sheikh, head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, this week dismissed criticism on social media at a time when other events in the region have been cancelled, saying on Facebook that “every Saudi, including me, is busy development and the regeneration of his country”.

The war only happened once on Sunday, when heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov said after his undercard victory: “Victory to our brothers in Palestine!”