Former two-division champion Billy Joe Saunders believes Tyson Fury had an off night against Francis Ngannou.
WBC boxing champion Fury scraped by a split decision against Ngannou in their crossover boxing match in Saudi Arabia. Fury was even knocked down in Round 3 in a fight that many believed he lost.
Although Fury claimed he didn’t underestimate Ngannou, Saunders insists that Fury wasn’t at his best. He firmly believes a rematch would have a completely different outcome.
“It wasn’t a robbery,” Saunders explained on TalkSport. “It was a very close fight. It could’ve gone either way, and Tyson got the win. He’s the champion, but it wasn’t the usual Tyson we know. Right from the start, I could tell he was going to struggle because I know Tyson inside out. Normally, he stands tall, utilizing his jab and feints. If someone told me I was going to face a UFC fighter in the boxing ring, I might lose focus a bit and not pay attention to the details.
“The reality is, with a novice, you need to make them focus on the right hand and then hit them with the left hand. That’s what Tyson needed to do. … If Tyson was even a little bit like his usual self, Ngannou wouldn’t lay a glove on him. But I’ve seen Tyson in sparring – I’ve observed how he behaves during sparring sessions with certain people. To me, it seemed like he wasn’t fully engaged from the beginning. Credit to Ngannou: He performed far better than anyone anticipated.”
Ngannou wants a rematch with Fury, but that won’t happen until Fury faces Oleksandr Usyk next, a fight that was already planned before the Fury-Ngannou matchup. Their undisputed heavyweight title bout is reportedly scheduled for February.
For more information on the matchup, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Fury vs. Ngannou.
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