WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is offering nothing but praise to MMA veteran Francis Ngannou.
On Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Fury won a close ten round split decision over Ngannou in a non-title crossover boxing match.
Fury has denied claims that he underestimated Ngannou.
“You can’t take anything away from Francis Ngannou. He’s a good fighter and he gave me a very good fight and that was it. I trained very well. I prepared very good. I don’t think I have an excuse or anything. It’s boxing. Some days you have good days, some days you don’t. You crack on and you continue, keep moving forward,” Fury told Boxing King Media.
Fury was a massive favorite against the former UFC champion, who was making ihis professional debut in boxing.
During the third, Ngannou dropped Fury with a hard left hand. The contest would play out in a very competitive manner. Fury, who didn’t appear as if he trained at his best, was having trouble with Ngannou’s style.
Fury explained that he trained very hard for the contest.
The next fight for Fury, is a planned undisputed showdown with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
“Listen, usually when you get the media saying it’s a mismatch, it’s not worth watching and all that, usually you’re in for a tough night,” Fury said. “If I wasn’t training as hard as I did, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through that fight. He punches hard but it was a bit like a hook on the back of the head, the knockdown in round whatever it was, 3, but apart from that he didn’t get very much else.
“He did very well. That’s it, really. It’s boxing. You can’t be the best version of yourself every time but it’s about keep going and on to the next one, which is Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed championship.”