Over the past few months, Francis Ngannou has taken some of the biggest risks in his career so far. It is safe to say that after months of uncertainty, on Saturday night against Fury, ‘The Predator’ came out as a bonafide star. The former UFC heavyweight champion lost the fight via a split-decision in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. However, for many including Daniel Cormier, Ngannou was not the real loser on the night. He shared his reaction on his official Instagram handle. The reaction came after Cormier had bashed Fury before the fight for disrespecting Ngannou by accepting a $200 million fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
Despite losing the fight, Ngannou’s stock has risen massively given how he performed on Saturday night. He knocked down ‘The Gypsy King’ in the third round of the fight as ‘The Predator’ went toe-to-toe with the best heavyweight boxer of this generation. According to the likes of Conor McGregor, Mike Tyson, Ryan Garcia and others, Ngannou did enough to secure a win in his boxing debut.
Following the fight, former UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the fight. ‘DC’ stated that the only thing that lost on the night was boxing. He went on to add,
“Alright, so Francis Ngannou just did some unreal sh*t. And you know your boy gotta react to it. I mean, wow. Home on a Saturday, watch a fight like that. The lineal heavyweight champion of the world and Francis lost a split decision? Only thing lost tonight was boxing. Cause Francis Ngannou showed that he is real.”
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Daniel Cormier slammed Tyson Fury for disrespecting Francis Ngannou
A month before the fight, Tyson Fury took to social media to confirm that he would be fighting Usyk next. This was done a month before his fight against Ngannou. The timing of the same did not sit well with Cormier who accused Fury of disrespecting Francis Ngannou. In a YouTube video, Cormier insisted that Fury was completely disregarding ‘The Predator’ and he was not happy to say the least. In the video he said,
“It is the most disrespectful thing Tyson Fury can do. It is so disrespectful, Tyson Fury knows. It’s kind of crazy, bro, because I hope Francis knocks his head off. I like Tyson Fury… But it is the most disrespectful thing that you could do.”
Going into the fight against Fury, ‘The Predator’ was a huge underdog and understandably so. Many believed that he would have the power advantage early on but would fade as the fight went on given he did not have the best stamina. Ngannou clipped Fury in the first round and knocked him down in the third which was a key moment in the fight. After that, Ngannou did appear to be exhausted at times but he always found a way to land a few devastating shots that caught Fury by surprise.
Dewey Cooper told me ringside after #FuryNgannou that Mauricio Sulaiman, president of WBC, told him Francis Ngannou will be ranked top 10 at heavyweight after tonight’s bout. pic.twitter.com/jbIxaXkKpm
— Mike Bohn (@MikeBohn) October 29, 2023
‘The Gypsy King’ admitted that he was not at his best given he was out of the ring for almost a year. After the fight, Ngannou’s trainer said that the WBC President promised to give Ngannou a top 10 ranking in the heavyweight division given how he performed against Fury. With such a high quality performance the former UFC heavyweight is likely to get more opportunities in the future.
