With the loss to Oleksandr Usyk in their highly-anticipated rematch on December 21st, Tyson Fury’s options in the heavyweight division have narrowed quite a bit. Two back-to-back losses to the Ukrainian heavyweight champion have certainly put a chink in Fury’s armor, and the road back to the title seems longer than ever. Now with ‘The Gypsy King’ being 36, and his previous titles being farther away from him, there are a few fights out there that could help the Englishman find redemption. One of these bouts is a showdown with Anthony Joshua. Fans have imagined that fight for a long time and now seems like the perfect time for him to pursue his fellow heavyweight Brit.

Another possibility – and this seems more likely – is a venture back into the world of crossover boxing. Prior to his fights with Usyk, Tyson Fury welcomed former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou into the world of boxing last year in October. What seemed like would be an easy fight for ‘The Gypsy King’ actually turned out to be one of his biggest tests to date. ‘The Predator’ took ‘The Gypsy King’ to deep waters, even scoring an infamous knockdown over him. The pair fought for a grueling 10 rounds, and Fury edged out a close split decision victory in the end.

Lately, Ngannou has been feeling the itch to box again, particularly after his successful PFL debut against Renan Ferreira back in October. In an interview with Pro Boxing Fans, the Cameroonian said that the fight was closer than what the judges had called, and said both Usyk and Fury were winners that night. He also dismissed the use of AI, saying despite the tech being intelligent, it doesn’t have the nuances to judge a human contest. Then came the important bit where he was asked whether he would like to see a contest between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury. Here’s what Ngannou said in response, “What I want to see now is Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou. That’s all what matters for me.”

Francis Ngannou was rooting for Tyson Fury to win his fight against Oleksandr Usyk, and why wouldn’t he? After all, he would want to face off against the best version of Fury, and not someone coming off two losses. Also, Fury shares Ngannou’s sentiment about AI judging combat sports contests. After the fight, Fury wasn’t happy with the results shown by the AI-based system and said, “By the review of that, absolutely s***. Here’s one: f*** all the computers, keep the humans going. More jobs for humans, fewer jobs for computers.”

As mentioned, Ngannou had the bout much closer than what the judges had called at the end of the December 21st bout. Let’s see what he had to say about the judging of that fight.

Francis Ngannou feels that the fight was much closer than what the scorecard showed

At Saudi Arabia’s Freedom Arena, Oleksandr Usyk dashed Tyson Fury’s hopes of regaining his former glory. The Ukrainian star defended his unified heavyweight titles after a hard-fought 12-round battle against the British ex-champion. He won the fight via decision but looked extremely sharp inside the ring and caused a lot of trouble for Fury. Usyk’s victory not only kept his undefeated record intact at 23-0 but also solidified his legacy in the sport.

The contests are now done, and Oleksandr Usyk has emerged the victory, twice over Tyson Fury. Many fans don’t doubt that ‘The Cat’ looked like the slightly better boxer that night, but many others were also shocked at the judges awarding only four rounds to ‘The Gypsy King’. Joining them, Francis Ngannou, too, felt like the bout was a much closer contest than what the judges had scored. He said, “I would have scored the fight closer than that. Maybe Usyk could have still won. I mean, at the end of the fight, I wasn’t sure that anybody was a clear winner because it could have gone either way. From my scorecard, it was closer than that.” 

Fury’s record now drops to 34-2, with both losses coming at the hands of Usyk. After back-to-back defeats, uncertainty surrounds the British heavyweight’s next move. Will he hang up his gloves, or could he step into the ring again against opponents like Ngannou, who has recently returned to MMA with the PFL?