{"id":297741,"date":"2023-10-31T16:54:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=297741"},"modified":"2023-10-31T16:54:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:54:37","slug":"eddie-hearn-rips-into-tyson-fury-after-francis-ngannou-bout-with-joshua-claim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/boxing\/eddie-hearn-rips-into-tyson-fury-after-francis-ngannou-bout-with-joshua-claim\/","title":{"rendered":"Eddie Hearn rips into Tyson Fury after Francis Ngannou bout with Joshua claim"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tyson Fury controversially defeated Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia<\/h3>\n

Anthony Joshua could beat Francis Ngannou in three rounds according to the British fighter’s promoter Eddie Hearn. Former UFC world champion Ngannou stunned the world of boxing on Saturday night when he put WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on the canvas before going the full 10-round distance with the Gypsy King only to be denied a debut victory by a controversial split decision.<\/p>\n

Undefeated Fury was expected to easily win the crossover boxing contest that had been billed as ‘The Battle of the Baddest’, but instead he was given a tough examination by the MMA star, who was appearing in his first-ever professional boxing match.<\/p>\n

The spectacle, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has already significantly raised the profile of Ngannou in the world of boxing, but Matchroom promoter Hearn was more interested in focusing on the performance of Fury, who can count himself lucky not to have lost his undefeated record in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Speaking on MailOnline’s\u00a0The Hook podcast, Hearn said: “People saying ‘oh, he’s let the boxing world down’ – I don’t think that really matters. I think it was good for boxing in that it was an incredible spectacle. What Saudi Arabia did with the production, and the ring walks was amazing.<\/p>\n

“But before the fight I gave Francis Ngannou zero chance of winning, like, on paper it’s just the most terrible mismatch. A guy who has never had a professional boxing match. And I think there was definitely an element of Tyson looking through him, he wasn’t as well prepared as he should have been, but it was still an awful performance.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“They’re now talking about Ngannou as arguably the number one in the heavyweight division, and it’s the biggest load of rubbish I’ve ever heard because he was definitely much better than people expected he would be – but he can get beat by anybody from English title level (all the way up) to the number one. But there’s some big fights out there for him now.”<\/p>\n

Hearn went on to reveal that he had held discussions with his own man Joshua about the prospect of facing Ngannou six months before the ex-UFC star stepped into the ring to face Fury on Saturday. But the Londoner dismissed the idea as a gimmick and insisted that he was only focused on regaining the world heavyweight title.<\/p>\n

But since Ngannou has now shown that he could match Fury every step of the way over 10 rounds, the Matchroom boss now believes that the MMA star must be considered a credible opponent for the likes of Joshua and Deontay Wilder.<\/p>\n

Hearn also said that he felt for Ngannou who in his eyes had been denied one of the greatest victories in all of sport by the judges’ decision.<\/p>\n

“Fury looked scared in the back end of the fight,” said Hearn. “Every time they got in a clinch, he looked like he was getting flung around. It was a difficult fight in that no one really did a lot in the back end but – but because [Ngannou] dropped him and because he won those early two rounds, for me, he won the fight.<\/p>\n

Don’t miss… <\/strong>
Oleksandr Usyk fires back at Tyson Fury with fresh demand after Ngannou fight[REACTION] <\/strong>
Francis Ngannou blasts Tyson Fury judges in X-rated rant calls out Gypsy King[VERDICT] <\/strong>
Tyson Fury v Oleksandr Usyk in doubt as Brit told to face Anthony Joshua instead[NEXT FIGHT] <\/strong><\/p>\n