Francis Ngannou struck early in his fight against Tyson Fury, knocking the WBC heavyweight champion to the canvas during the third round of their hotly anticipated fight.
Despite going on to win via split decision, the Gypsy King was in trouble after he tried to land a right hand on the MMA heavyweight, with Ngannou catching him on the temple with a huge left hook.
The 35-year-old dropped to the canvas and took a moment to recover, before rising to his feet with seconds left in the round.
After both fighters spent the first round working each other out, Ngannou came out aggressive in the second, landing a big left hook on Fury’s, cutting his head open.
Many questions were asked on how Ngannou would fare against the WBC heavyweight champion, considering the MMA fighter is stepping into the ring for the first time in his career.
Francis Ngannou knocked Tyson Fury to the canvas during the third round of their crunch fight
Ngannou came out the more aggressive fighter, cutting Fury’s head in the second round
But he looked compact in the opening rounds and troubled Fury landing some heavy punches, with things not quite going the heavyweight champion’s way.
Fury managed a few body shots in the second and third rounds, before he tried to catch Ngannou with a right hand but was too slow.
The Cameroonian fighter saw his opportunity to counter and swung a big left-hand shot on his temple.
The British fighter went to the ground and looked shaken, but made it to the end of the round.
He looked a little shaken as he sat down in his corner in the break ahead of the fourth round.
He found his rhythm in the fourth and fifth rounds, but Carl Frampton, speaking to TNT Sports, was aghast at how the MMA fighter had started, claiming: ‘I can’t believe what I’m watching.
‘I have Francis five rounds up already. Francis looks like he’s too strong for Tyson. He’s just starting to tire a little bit though. There’s a lot of concern in that corner and in Fury’s face.
‘I think we need to hang our heads in shame for the little credit we gave to Ngannou. He is boxing out of his skin.’
Fury bounced back and started to land more punches on his opponent but started to slow down again in the seventh and eight rounds, with Ngannou continuing to press on him.
Towards the later rounds, Fury bounced back and landed multiple scoring shots against his opponent.
The fight went the distance, with Ngannou’s team hoisting him into the air after the bout.
The pair also embraced after the fight and despite all the fighting talk in the pre-match build-up, both showed great sportsmanship.
But it was the British fighter who won the fight via a split decision and Ngannou looked very disappointed when the results were announced, with Fury claiming it was ‘probably one of me toughest fights in the last 10 years.’
Fury looked a little dazed when he went down but rose to his feet to complete the round
There was shock among the spectators inside the stadium as Fury fell to the floor, but he continued and found his rhythm in the fourth and fifth rounds
After the bout, three-time heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said: ‘I thought Tyson Fury won. He was throwing a lot of punches and was getting the jabs going. I thought that Ngannou, he really surprised me.
‘He showed really good poise and patience and you could tell that he was waiting for the perfect opportunity and threw a punch where Tyson was basically off balance.
‘The fundamentals weren’t there for Tyson – you could tell he wasn’t 100 per cent. And this was like a warmup fight for Tyson Fury.
More to follow…