Former champion on Tyson Fury’s bout with Francis Ngannou: ‘He didn’t let the boxing community down’

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In a statement different from the usual ones that followed boxing debutant Francis Ngannou’s third-round knockdown of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, seasoned boxer and pundit Carl Frampton stated that Tyson Fury did not disappoint the boxing community, as is being circulated.

Retired boxer Carl Frampton was giving his prediction concerning the coming bout between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury when he said this. The contest had to be shifted from December 23 to early next year following Fury’s getting injured while fighting Ngannou recently at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a contest that saw the debutant get defeated by split decision.

‘I still have Fury as a favourite against Usyk,’ affirmed Frampton. ‘He obviously needs to be much better than he was in his last fight, which he will be.’

It is a natural present-day behaviour for champions’ losses and mistakes to be overemphasised by both pundits and journalists, and celebrating fans are sometimes ignorant of why certain during-match events could be normal. Carl Frampton’s approach to the disgraceful knockdown Fury suffered did not downplay Ngannou’s respectable performance, but he did not think that such a Fury did not do well.

‘He [Fury] didn’t let the boxing community down,’ Frampton stated. ‘But he’s probably upset and annoyed at himself because it was a poor performance. I couldn’t believe what I was watching at times. I expected Francis to look really wild and amateurish, novicey and be swinging from his feet, and he wasn’t.’

Unlike Carl Frampton, Fury said he was privy to what was coming when he went into the ring with the Cameroonian debutant.

‘No, he [Ngannou] was what I thought he would be,’ alleged Tyson Fury. ‘I thought he would have a puncher’s chance like the rest of them. Listen, he was a good fighter and we’ll probably have a rematch down the line somewhere. Who’d have thought it?’

What Frampton found wrong with Fury was his’media obligations’, but those are one of the ways Tyson Fury earns his position as the WBC heavyweight titleholder.

‘Fury just needs to have boxing at the forefront of his mind and let other people worry about the media obligations,’ advised Frampton. ‘He just needs to focus on boxing, and he will be back with a bang.’

Deontay Wilder’s trainer, Malik Scott, has been studying British Fury for some time, according to his recent statement in which he alleged that Fury’s bout with his American client triggered a change in Fury.

‘Even Fury believes the Deontay Wilder fights changed him, Scott said. ‘You don’t have three fights with Wilder and it don’t change you.

‘You know, every fight he’s had with Deontay, these weren’t one or two-round fights. He’s gone over 24 rounds with the hardest puncher in the history of the sport.

‘People are highlighting the times he got knocked down, but what about the punches he was taking in the fight, taking good shots and coming back. Those shots are damaging too.’

Tyson Fury faced Derek Chisora and other dangerous punchers whose blows, Malik Scott believed, had weakened his performance.

‘He’s [Fury’s] 35 years young but to me Fury has put a lot of wear and tear on his body,’ said Scott. ‘Not just the Deontay fights, early on in his career he took damage in the first Chisora fight, he was knocked down with Cunningham. The gym, he’s always had high-quality sparring. He’s 35 but father time is undefeated.’

Whether Tyson Fury’s body is creaking or not, he must prepare hard to fight Oleksandr Usyk in the undisputed heavyweight bout that must happen before the end of March. As a certain movie is said, ‘The World’s Best Never Rest.’