Tyson Fury’s record remains unblemished, but TNT Sports expert Carl Frampton insists the Gypsy King was fortunate to have his arms raised after a below-par performance against Francis Ngannou.
The heavyweight champion was floored in the third round and generally looked sluggish against a man stepping into the boxing ring for the first time. “In my eyes he won the fight,” said Frampton.
Francis Ngannou may not have had his arm raised at the end of his epic ‘Battle of the Baddest’ contest with Tyson Fury, but TNT Sports expert Carl Frampton insists the former UFC champion won the fight.
The judges controversially ruled that an under-par Fury was the winner on a split decision despite the fact the ‘Gypsy King’ was floored in the third round. Fury admitted that Ngannou’s “awkward” style made life difficult for the him as the sluggish heavyweight champion failed to take control of the contest.
“People who were picking Tyson Fury to win this fight and win it clearly, we were trying to think rationally,” began Frampton.
Ngannou vows to ‘kick into that nest and expose’ controversial Fury decisionNgannou vows to ‘kick into that nest and expose’ controversial Fury decision
“I mean this is a guy in Francis Ngannou coming in for his first boxing match and fighting the heavyweight champion of the world – how was he supposed to win?
“In my eyes he won the fight. I think Tyson maybe overlooked him, he struggled with his style. He was very awkward. And we all thought Francis was going to come and swing, he boxed beautifully at times. An unbelievable performance.”
Lennox Lewis, meanwhile, claimed Fury lacked discipline in the 10-round encounter.
He said: “If you watch a fighter, as his mouth opens you can tell he’s tired and he needs that oxygen.
“Tyson Fury didn’t punch to the body once, and I know he knows how to punch to the body, so that’s why I said he wasn’t 100%. He didn’t have that discipline enough to do what he needed to do to win this fight.
Frampton added: “It was a really under-par performance from Tyson. But I don’t want to take anything away from Francis. Tyson has got to have overlooked him. I haven’t seen a performance like that from Tyson Fury since the John McDermott fights.”
Speaking from the ring, boxing expert Steve Bunce described Fury’s performance as “dreadful”.
He added: “His timing looked bad, his conditioning looked bad. He seemed to have run out of ideas in the last two rounds when he should have put his foot on the pedal, he coasted like he was eight rounds up.
“But here’s the thing – how much of that was caused by Francis Ngannou not playing Fury’s game? By Francis Ngannou not taking stupid risks? Picking his shots. Francis Ngannou, who has never had a fight, any contest in a boxing ring, dropping Fury with a big shot like he did.
“So, what came first – Francis Ngannou’s stunning, unbelievable, unexpected performance or Tyson Fury… let’s get it right, that was a bad Tyson Fury performance.
“Tyson Fury got away with one tonight, he really did.”
TNT Sports
