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TYSON FURY’S RECENT SHOWING AGAINST FRANCIS NGANNOU INSPIRED EVERYTHING FROM SADNESS TO RAGE, BUT IT ALSO RAISED A LOT OF QUESTIONS

Tyson Fury was surprisingly succinct in the aftermath of his recent bout with Francis Ngannou.

“That wasn’t in the script,” Fury said. 

The WBC heavyweight titlist looked spent after going 10 rounds with Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He wasn’t in the mood for joking, or singing, or dressing up as Batman, or whatever else he’s done in recent years to get attention. He seemed as perplexed as everyone else. Humble, too. He read the room. He knew it wasn’t time for clowning. He’d escaped with a spilt decision and a sense that the reputation he’d developed in recent years had unraveled in an instant. 

Ngannou, an MMA fighter who was making his professional boxing debut, was supposed to have been an easy night for Fury. It was a chance for Fury to pad his bank account and not get hurt as he killed time before a more lucrative bout with the man who holds the rest of the belts, Oleksandr Usyk. Yet Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third round and had many ringsiders convinced they were seeing an upset in the making. Though statistics revealed Fury had actually landed more punches than Ngannou during the bout, the verdict in his favor was unpopular. It unleashed the usual noise about conspiracies and corruption in boxing, while some nitwits hailed Ngannou as simply the greatest fighting machine in history. It was all a bit much. Fury had an off night, and Ngannou did better than anyone had anticipated. Beyond that, the fight was just a stinker. It was hardly the dark night for boxing that some have made it out to be, nor was it a robbery.

Yet the fight raised questions. Had Fury not taken it seriously? Had he not trained well? Was he overlooking Ngannou in favor of the impending bout with Usyk? The answer is probably yes to all of the above. But those are the easy ones to answer. The real questions have more to do with a fighter who has been at the top for a long time and may need to rededicate himself.

Focus, Focus, Focus…

In recent years, Fury has been as much celebrity as champion. What with camera crews following him for ITV documentaries, his own reality show on Netflix, endorsements for energy drinks, recording songs for charity, and high-paying appearances on WWE events, he’s hardly living the Spartan lifestyle. He’s also published two top-selling memoirs and a motivational book in a four-year span, which is a lot, even for a larger-than-life dude such as Fury. Victories over Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora, the latter for the third time, were grand, money-spinning spectacles but quickly forgotten. Even the fight with Ngannou bordered on the sort of celebrity trash boxing that has attracted viewers in recent years.  

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He flirted with retirement after beating Whyte in 2022, but Fury probably knows the truth: Without boxing, he would suddenly be worthless as a singer, author, reality star and energy drink endorser. He’s at the point where the fighting supports his celebrity. Boxing fans are hopeful his scheduled bout with Usyk will result in an undisputed champion. Fury wants that too, undoubtedly, but he’s probably hoping it will also lead to another book deal, or maybe a duet with Dolly Parton.

This isn’t to say a boxer can’t enjoy the perks of fame. But there’s always a tipping point where the celebrity nonsense starts to outweigh the fighter’s commitment to his real job. 

Was Fury’s performance in Saudi Arabia a warning that he needs to put aside the distracting aspects of his fame and focus more on boxing? Had he started to believe the hype about him being the best heavyweight of a generation, perhaps one of the best ever? These are all reasonable questions. A big part of the answer is in Ngannou.

How good is Ngannou?

Too much emphasis has been placed on Ngannou’s lack of boxing experience. True, he’s green, but he’s a big, athletic man with a war club in each fist. His MMA background made him tough and competitive. And he showed impressive poise in the fight, staying calm and picking his spots. Also helping Ngannou was the sheer scale of him. This was truly a ballet of behemoths. 

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Fury, for a change, was competing against a man nearly as heavy as himself. Because he usually enjoys a considerable weight advantage, he’s been able to lean on opponents and maul them. Unable to roughhouse the strong and heavy Ngannou, Fury was forced into a different type of fight than he’d probably planned, boxing from the outside where he was only moderately effective. There should’ve been a premonition of things to come prior to the fight, when a shirtless Fury leaned against Ngannou and tried to belly-bump him. It was an unappetizing scene – Fury looked like a manatee trying to mount a midsize SUV – but the message was obvious: Ngannou wouldn’t be easily jostled in the ring.  

Also on Ngannou’s side was the element of surprise. No one had ever seen him in the ring as a boxer, so it wasn’t as if Fury could’ve formed a fight plan. Fury went in assuming Ngannou would be amateurish and easy to outbox. Fury may have even believed Ngannou would be intimidated or, at the least, overwhelmed by the event. But things worked out differently. 

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In a way, Ngannou was like that rookie pitcher no one has seen, and during his first trip around the league he blazes his fastball past everybody. Those rookies are usually much less dazzling on their second trip, when everybody knows what to expect. Ngannou will never have that element of surprise again, and if he continues to pursue boxing, future opponents will have some idea of what’s coming. He’ll still have the size and durability, but he won’t be a mystery. It was Fury’s bad luck to be the first to box with Ngannou, the unknown quantity.

Of course, without denying Ngannou the credit due him, it is possible that any other competent heavyweight on this night would’ve given Fury trouble. These “stay busy” fights can be hazardous for a fighter when there’s a bigger fight in the offing. If Fury was simply looking ahead to Usyk rather than focusing on Ngannou, he wouldn’t be the first. Greater fighters than Fury have fallen victim to looking ahead. 

Then again, Fury’s middling performance may have been down to something else. If it wasn’t a wake-up call for Fury to take his career more seriously, it may have been a sign that the Gypsy King is simply getting old.

How old is 35?

Fury is 6-foot-9 and his weight can go up over 300 pounds in-between fights. We don’t know how long such a big man as Fury is supposed to last in boxing, though we’re certain he’s not going to set records for longevity. The gigantic Nikolai Valuev had his final fight at 36 and retired because of bone and joint problems. Very large men have their own set of issues. Moreover, Fury’s years of drug abuse, his battles with depression, plus the stresses that come with fame, have possibly aged him some. He’s only 35, which isn’t ancient by the standards of modern boxing, but he’s a weary 35. Ngannou is 37 but may be effectively younger than Fury. 

There were moments where Fury seemed his usual self, especially in the first two rounds when he connected with some sweeping right hands and appeared to be taunting Ngannou. The knockdown, which was reported around the internet as if it were the U.S. hockey team beating the Soviet Union in 1980, was a bit overrated; it was a left high on the side of the head that caught Fury off-balance. The second half of the fight saw Fury try hard to even the score, but his timing and accuracy were off – signs, perhaps, of an aging boxer. Still, reports that Ngannou put in a brilliant performance and was screwed on the scorecards were greatly exaggerated. Ngannou won the third and had a very good eighth, but most of the other rounds belonged to Fury. The verdict was fair. 

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The knockdown in the third cast a feeling of anticipation over the rest of the bout, particularly for those fans who were hoping for the underdog to score an upset. Prior to it, Fury looked like he might coast to a bland decision win. But once he was down, the truth his charisma had always camouflaged was clear: He’s an ungainly man, standing so tall that his head is often unprotected and easy to hit. Still, the knockdown made everyone watch Ngannou, rather than Fury. They were so impressed by the Cameroonian that they didn’t notice that Fury was landing more and actually forcing the action. Well, what little there was of it. 

Should they do it again?

Surely, then, if we can imagine for a moment that Usyk doesn’t exist and the papers are signed for a Fury-Ngannou rematch, we can wonder if things would play out differently next time. The questions come in a bewildering flood. Can Fury do better? Has a corrosive seed been planted in his head that he’s starting to decline? Will he be able to get back to the mindset that saw him twice blast Deontay Wilder into pieces, or is he stuck in a routine of celebrity appearances supported by “good enough” boxing? 

With the excitement and novelty of his boxing debut behind him, it is not certain that Ngannou could improve on his first bout with Fury. It’s more likely that he’d do more of the same. Fury, though, is known to follow mediocre performances with much better ones. His ego wouldn’t allow him to be unprepared next time, and he’d sweep into the ring for a rematch with renewed drive. 

Of course, Fury might watch the replay and go easier on himself. It wasn’t a triumph, but it was a win. But would he also see an aging fighter? Would he see a guy who simply overlooked an opponent and needed to get serious again? Would he see openings and wonder why he didn’t take advantage of them? He was back to being his old, obnoxious self in the press conference to announce the Usyk bout, a sign that he wants to forget Ngannou for now and a suggestion that we should forget about him, too. But should we?

Fury will have all he can handle with Usyk, but let’s say he beats the crafty Ukrainian. Would his pride lead him to a return bout with Ngannou, this time with the title – that is, all the titles – on the line? 

It is hard to count Fury out. If his less-than-stellar bout with Ngannou undid some of his reputation, he could rectify that by beating Usyk. Then maybe focus on a more conclusive win over Ngannou. That’s a lot to demand of him, but despite all of his clowning, Fury enjoys a challenge. He also enjoys shutting up his critics. And after that? We’d be ready for that duet with Dolly …