Former UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou “deserved to be ranked by the WBC” after he was denied an unimaginable upset win in opposition to Tyson Fury, in response to president Mauricio Sulaiman.
Former UFC champion Ngannou shocked the world by going the distance in his boxing debut, even flattening reigning WBC heavyweight champion Fury at one level.
What appeared a complete mismatch between the unbeaten WBC champion and a blended martial artist, who was boxing professionally for the primary time, Ngannou landed essentially the most telling blow as a left hook decked Fury within the third spherical.
However Fury bought up off the canvas earlier than grinding his method to a extremely unconvincing cut up resolution win with two judges giving Fury the battle by scores of 96-93 and 95-94, and the opposite decide favouring Ngannou 95-94.
This was not the tune-up Fury would have envisaged for an undisputed world title showdown in opposition to Oleksandr Usyk, the WBA, IBF and WBO champion who was ringside to witness his rival’s underwhelming show.
Ngannou who had not fought in any capability since January 2022 and had reconstructive knee surgical procedure in that point, stated pointedly on X, previously often called Twitter: “Desk Tennis champion of the world.”
Tyson Fury stays unbeaten
Ngannou exceeded expectations with stories suggesting he might be in line for a prime 10 rating with the WBC.
Sky Sports activities approached Sulaiman, who confirmed: “What I personally witnessed final evening is a strong boxer, who deserves to be ranked by the WBC and I’ll make such suggestions to the scores committee.”
It might imply Ngannou will probably be ranked above the likes of Filip Hrgovic and Daniel Dubois, though the 37-year-old is anticipated to return to MMA subsequent yr.
Usyk promoter says Fury ‘cannot escape’ December 23 fight date
Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk has insisted Fury “can’t escape” an undisputed world title battle on December 23, regardless of the latter’s punishing factors win over Francis Ngannou.
He stated: “Everybody, together with Usyk, didn’t give a lot probability to Ngannou. However the man has shocked the world.
“Fury underestimated his opponent. Conceitedness, lack of self-discipline, and thirst for cash result in these form of circumstances.
“However we’ve December 23 inked and Fury can’t escape that.”