Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Latest boxing fight updates and reaction after controversial result in Saudi Arabia
Re-live all the action after Tyson Fury was knocked by and won a controversial decision against MMA star Francis Ngannou
Tyson Fury won a controversial decision against Francis Ngannou in the pair’s boxing match on Saturday night, surviving a knockdown by the MMA star in Saudi Arabia.
Fury entered Riyadh with an unbeaten professional record, while ex-UFC champion Ngannou was making his boxing debut. Fury, 35, did not defend his WBC heavyweight title in the fight, which went for all 10 scheduled rounds and saw Ngannou, 37, arguably do enough to beat the boxer.
The Cameroonian dropped the Briton with a left hook in Round 3, stunning those in attendance and the wider combat-sports world. Ngannou continued to outbox Fury for much of the bout, only to be denied a victory when the scorecards were read aloud.
After a close fight, Fury was named a split-decision winner, and he faced off with unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, whom he is expected to fight next – also in Saudi.
Re-live all the action with our fight updates and results, below.
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole vs Carlos Takam
Round 4
Bakole gets right after Takam, who still seems a little wobbly. Harsh left hook from Bakole, and Takam’s own left hook does not faze the Congolese.
Accurate shots from Bakole, as he looks to find a finish – but without forcing one... He eats a left hook to the body but beckons Takam forward after the veteran retreats.
Bakole jabs low then high. Now he burrows a left hook into the midriff of Takam. Takam overshoots with a right overhand, which only grazes Bakole.
OH! Brutal left hook to the body by Bakole, then a short right cross as Takam teeters backwards!!
Bakole with more hard shots upstairs, and the referee steps in after Bakole lands a mean overhand right, which sends Takam wobbling onto the ropes!!
It’s all over! Takam is lucid enough to protest, but he was taking damage and was only going to take more – unnecessarily.
Bakole with a celebratory dance. He then checks on Takam, who seems to be okay... The pair then embrace after the official result is read out.
Martin Bakole def. Carlos Takam via fourth-round TKO (2:15)
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole vs Carlos Takam
Round 3
Bakole is opening up here, landing a series of hooks! Takam is keeping his guard high, but his legs are unsteady!
He lands a couple of counter shots, but Bakole looks untroubled so far... Left hooks land for both men! This is suddenly a bit of a firefight!
Bakole is backed up to the ropes but still throwing. He blocks a few hooks, before a couple get through – but they don’t seem to land with Takam’s full power.
Bakole smiles, as if to say he’s unperturbed by these punches. Still, Takam his on his chest. Bakole takes his turn, rotating back and forth from the hips, letting hooks go from both wings.
Bakole with a good uppercut at close range!! Now a flurry of hooks, and Takam is not fully with it!
A left hook from Bakole, now a right straight, and Takam falls onto him! He’s only standing because he’s leaning on Bakole!
Takam does well to make it to the bell!
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole vs Carlos Takam
Round 2
Every fight from here on out is a heavyweight bout, by the way.
Bakole still has that lead hand low, when he’s not throwing teasing jabs. Takam again jabs to the body, before edging backwards to narrowly avoid a one-two by Bakole.
Bakole parries another body jab, before landing his own jab to the head of Takam.
Bakole’s coach: “Move your feet, let your shots go, come oooon.” The Congolese is still very immobile, still waiting on Takam.
Bakole finally lets his hands go, and lands a decent left hook upstairs. Good roll from Takam to avoid a chopping right cross from Bakole.
Both men land left hooks. Takam increases his activity in the final seconds.
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole vs Carlos Takam
Round 1
Both heavyweights stand orthodox. Lots of head movement from Takam early on, while the much heavier Bakole is content to stand relatively still and wait on the 42-year-old.
Bakole leans back to avoid an overhand right attempt by Takam, who really loaded up on that one. Now Bakole jabs at the body from range. His hands are low between shots. Again he leans back to avoid a heavy effort from Takam – a left hook this time.
Takam jabs to the body. Bakole responds in kind. Takam goes again, still moving his head constantly between his own moments of offence.
Takam again tries for a left hook, which partially lands to the chest of the Congolese.
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole vs Carlos Takam
There are actually two arenas in play tonight: One for the undercard fights, and one for the main event.
That’s because a Riyadh Season event – separate from tonight’s boxing – is taking place in the main room before Fury vs Ngannou starts.
So, that arena is busy until then. We go to the second arena, where Martin Bakole and Carlos Takam are about to get going!
Here’s our exclusive interview with Bakole from earlier this week:
Martin Bakole: ‘Tyson Fury is the only boxer who can give me good sparring’
Exclusive interview: The Congolese, who believes he is boxing’s most avoided heavyweight, aims to take his anger out on Carlos Takam on the Fury-Ngannou undercard
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Main card under way!
The main card is under way in Riyadh! We’ll have live fight updates for you very shortly, as we build towards the main event...
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Martin Bakole – exclusive interview
Martin Bakole is angry. Frankly, that may be an understatement. In Bakole’s eyes, he is the most avoided man in the heavyweight division, and the worry for Carlos Takam is that he may have to absorb that anger tonight.
Before Tyson Fury’s bewildering bout with Francis Ngannou plays out among the dunes of Saudi Arabia, Bakole and Takam will meet in a more traditional heavyweight clash on the undercard – and one that Bakole intends to mark with a breakout performance. Perhaps with that, he can make up for the ‘mistake’ that has defined his professional career in recent years.
“The only mistake I made, and even my coaches are telling me, is that they allowed me to spar these top guys,” Bakole told The Independent. “These guys know they don’t belong where they are now, because if I stand with them, I give them problems. I only show them three or four punches, because I’m coming to help them; but even in helping them, I’m giving them problems. I’m a machine in there, throwing as many punches as I can. I don’t get tired, I keep coming.”
Exclusive interview in full:
Martin Bakole: ‘Tyson Fury is the only boxer who can give me good sparring’
Exclusive interview: The Congolese, who believes he is boxing’s most avoided heavyweight, aims to take his anger out on Carlos Takam on the Fury-Ngannou undercard
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Ex-pro boxer and ex-UFC star preview fight
I spoke to former two-weight world champion boxer Carl Frampton, and Dan Hardy – an ex-UFC title challenger – about Fury vs Ngannou.
Read the article below to find out what Frampton and Hardy had to say about:
• Ngannou’s chance of winning – as a percentage
• The tactical and technical choices that Ngannou must make to knock out Fury
• Whether fans should be more understanding of fighters taking ‘money fights’
And much more!
What Francis Ngannou must do to beat Tyson Fury: ‘Uncork those big shots’
Former world-champion boxer Carl Frampton and UFC icon Dan Hardy sat down with Alex Pattle, and broke down the most controversial fight of the year
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Steve Bunce’s fight preview
“It’s a joyous circus. Tonight in Saudi Arabia, the first trick will be the ring emerging from a 26-foot hole in the ground, and then the real magic will start,” writes Steve Bunce in his preview of tonight’s main event.
“Tyson Fury, the unbeaten heavyweight champion of the world, will then appear inside a giant neon beam and, wearing a crown, he will bow to the crowd and the dignitaries.
“In the opposite corner, as the magic continues, will be Francis Ngannou, a man who has never once fought a boxing match, and under this giant canopy of created rivalry, one of the biggest fights in history will take place. If that is not a ‘Hey, presto’ moment, then I don’t know what is!
“In front of 20,000 people, including a dozen former heavyweight world champions, and some of the wealthiest men on Earth, the best heavyweight in the boxing world will fight the best heavyweight in the MMA world to see who is the Baddest Man on the Planet. It is a genius, simple and lunatic idea.
“It is not the first and it will not be the last circus fight involving a legitimate heavyweight boxer.”
Read Steve’s preview in full, right here:
Fury vs Ngannou is simple, genius and lunacy all at once
Comment: This is not a fight, this is an event – a carnival in the Middle East, before Tyson Fury’s next one begins...
Fury vs Ngannou LIVE: Briton ‘unhappy’ with Usyk fight announcement
Tyson Fury has admitted that he ‘wasn’t happy’ about the announcement of his fight with Oleksandr Usyk, as he prepares for his bout with Francis Ngannou tonight.
It was announced in September that Fury, who holds the WBC heavyweight title, will box Usyk, who is unified champion, in Saudi Arabia before the end of March.
Fury is targeting a date of 23 December for his bout with Usyk, but his excitement around the fight has been diluted by some aggravation at the timing of its announcement, he suggested.
“It wasn’t my choice,” the Briton, 35, said on The MMA Hour on Wednesday (25 October). “I would never in a million years do that, but the people who are putting these fights on, who are paying the money, they’re in control. They’re the promoters of the event.
“So, the paymaster does what the paymaster wants, basically. But if it was up to me, I would have never, ever, ever done that, ever. Because I never count chickens before they hatch, ever [...] They should never announce fights before the first one happens, because that’s how people get knocked out.”
More here:
Tyson Fury ‘unhappy’ with Oleksandr Usyk fight announcement
The Briton did not want the bout to be announced before his fight with Francis Ngannou had taken place
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