The defeat of MMA fighter Francis Ngannou by heavyweight champion Tyson Fury defeated Francis Ngannou in an untitled bout in Saudi Arabia continues to generate a huge buzz on social media.
There are debates on why Ngannou lost the fight on October 28th.
So, let's look at the rules: In that bout, three judges were seated at ringside to watch the fight up close, and they were watching out for four key things outside a total knockout.
The judges watched for effective aggression. Being aggressive gives the impression of dominance, but unless the boxer is landing punches and not constantly getting countered, it isn't really 'effective'.
Although Ngannou may have been very aggressive, two of the judges that gave the win to Fury could argue it wasn’t effective enough.
Ring Generalship: Here, judges watch for the fighter who controls the action and enforces their will and style. Did Fury control the outlook of the fight? Did he control Ngannou's movement? This is again where the individual opinions of the judges are deployed.
Defence: How well is a boxer slipping, parrying, and blocking punches? Good defence is important. Ngannou may have been throwing the punches, but how well was Fury defending them?
Finally, Hard and Clean Punches: To the untrained eye, it could appear that Ngannou was landing a lot of shots, when, in fact, most were being blocked or not landing cleanly on Fury, denying him points.
Reactions
Following the bout, comments have come from across the sporting world with fomer heavyweight champion Mike Tyson commending Ngannou for his performance.
“The true champ of the evening @francis_ngannou. So proud how you performed,” he wrote on X.
Nigerian-born mix martial arts Israel Adesanya has also praised Ngannou saying went ''against all odds and coming out on top.''
Fury said there was no rematch clause, but he would like to fight Ngannou again "down the line" and after a title fight with Ukraine's IBF, IBO, WBO, and WBA champion Oleksandr Usyk.
