‘Dynamite’ Francis Ngannou’s Punch was a lucky ‘One Shot’, Claims Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury lost a lot of professional credibility after his boxing match with Francis Ngannou last year. Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, was expected to steam-roll the former UFC champion, making his professional boxing debut, on his way to a unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

However, things went horribly wrong as the Ngannou, who possesses one-punch knockout power, proved a tougher challenge for ‘The Gypsy King’ and shockingly, managed to knock him down with a counter right in the third round. Although Fury went on to win the bout, his boxing reputation, which had only grown in stature after his trilogy with Deontay Wilder took a serious hit as he only managed to win a one-point split decision to a ‘The Predator’ on debut.

On being asked who he thought was the bigger puncher between Ngannou and Wilder, Fury felt ‘The Bronze Bomber’ was the far more dangerous puncher. “Deontay, by far. Ngannou is a big puncher, but I wasn’t really troubled by any of his punches. It wasn’t like he was dynamite and every time he hit me I was wobbled. Just one shot to the back of the head and that was it. Wilder’s still the biggest puncher I’ve ever been in the ring with by a mile,” he said.

While his next fight is not going to be against a power puncher like Ngannou or Wilder, it is perhaps the most important fight of his career, and may see him go down in the annals of boxing for having done something no one else has done this century.

Tyson Fury’s legacy on the line against Usyk

Tyson Fury will fight Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA, IBF, and WBO belts on May 18 at the Kingdom Arena to unify the heavyweight title for the first time this millennium after Lennox Lewis did so in 1999.

While Fury’s stock has taken a serious hit after the Ngannou fight, he can reclaim it and more if he manages to defeat Usyk, a maestro who is every bit as technically proficient as Fury, became the undisputed cruiserweight champion before moving up to fight for the heavyweight title.

Incidentally, Francis Ngannou fought and lost in humiliating fashion to former unified champion Anthony Joshua at their boxing match earlier this month. If he had won, he would have been in line to fight the winner of the upcoming undisputed title clash, a first in the four-belt era. Tyson Fury has his entire boxing reputation and legacy to fight for in his next fight and fans are expected to get the best version of ‘The Gypsy King’, who has taken the Ngannou fight as a wake-up call. What do you think about Fury’s comments?

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