Many claimed that Fury had even done enough to have earned his first loss, but punch statistics showed that he had slightly outperformed his rival despite the lacklustre display. The out of character showing from the ‘Gypsy King’ sparked concern for many as he goes into his next huge undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk, but it appears he may have under-estimated Ngannou according to inside source John Fury.

Tyson Fury’s performance against Francis Ngannou

The ‘Gypsy King’ had faced concerns over his physique in the build-up to the contest, even from Ngannou who mocked it during their final face-off. Ngannou had looked awful in training footage, but it seemed to be part of a masterplan from cornerman Mike Tyson, as he flew out of the blocks seemingly stunning Fury.

He then landed a booming hook which sent him down to the canvas, and many even suggested he received longer than the official count to return to his feet. But Fury bounced back nonetheless but was certainly losing rounds at times, as he had to try and stay away from the controlled aggression of ‘The Predator’. The judges scorecards showed Fury to be the winner by decision, but he was certainly fortunate to get away with the win.

It will be most concerning given the calibre of his next opponent, Oleksandr Usyk, a fight for which he will earn a huge purse to try and become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 next February. Fury will go back to the drawing board with Sugar Hill Steward, and has several months to take a much more serious approach for the difficult test.

John Fury was worried during Tyson Fury training camp

Fury Sr was ringside in Saudi Arabia, having already had a key involvement in the week monitoring his son’s face-off with Ngannou in some crazy antics. But his thoughts were certainly very different behind closed doors, as he now revealed all the struggles that the heavyweight champion was going through, having not prepared adequately for the task at hand.