Britain’s Fury 34-0-1 (24) was expected to wipe the floor with former UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou, 37, a French-Cameroonian who had never stepped foot in a boxing ring for a professional bout.
The 10-round non-title bout at Boulevard Hall in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia almost ended in disaster for the 35-year-old Fury, who was decked by the crafty Ngannou in the third round before eking out a disputed split decision victory.
Ngannou had clearly trained properly for the fight. He was unfazed by Fury’s feints, landed a big left hook early in the bout that sent the champion down, and was surprisingly successful when he switched his stance to southpaw.
Fury, meanwhile, looked out of sorts, largely unable to walk Ngannou onto his power shots and when he did, they had no effect. In the end he had to resort to jabbing his way to victory.
Now Warren has explained what went wrong in the lead up to the bout.
“There was no video footage to look at of Ngannou in a ring,” the Queensberry Promotions boss told The MMA Hour. “All you could look at him of was in an MMA match, in UFC as it was.
“When I looked at that, I could see him as a tough guy. He’s a big competitor. He’s strong, so I knew what was coming in the clinches or whatever.
“Tyson, as he’s fought in his last four fights, where he stood toe-to-toe with people and slugged it out in some cases, like he did with Deontay Wilder, he didn’t do what he used to do in the past.
“What he used to do was to get up on his toes and box, use his jab. He stood there and traded with him. I thought that I didn’t want him getting in these clinches with Ngannou if they did that.
“I felt that he’d be used to that. But when that first bell went, and he came out, and I watched as he shaped up, I thought to myself, ‘Oh, this is not what I’m expecting. This is not.’
“Normally, MMA guys, they’re a bit more square on. He actually had the stance of a boxer, could jab, and was switch-hitting.
“After a couple of rounds, I believed Tyson was winning, but I thought, ‘This is not going to be the job that everybody’s saying it’s going to be.’”
Fury’s next assignment promises to be no easier. He will clash with undefeated WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia of February 17.
The 36-year-old Ukrainian southpaw is vying to become a two-weight undisputed champion after previously holding all four major world titles at cruiserweight before moving up to heavyweight four years ago.
