Francis Ngannou thought he was the clear winner in his highly anticipated fight with boxing star Tyson Fury this past weekend.
In an interview with ESPN's Brett Okamoto, Ngannou argued Fury "would say I won that fight" if the unbeaten heavyweight were being honest.
The MMA veteran went a step further in a video he posted to his YouTube channel. He offered a sharp critique of the judging in his split decision defeat.
"I think it's a shame for boxing though," he said (via MMA Fighting's Jed Meshew). "I think it's a shame for this sport. And those judges or whoever, they should be sanctioned. Again, I want to understand why those judges judge like that, because for me, to be honest, I don't care that much about that decision, but I think those kinds of decisions mess up a lot of people's careers."
Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third round, which came as a bit of a shock to many fans. However, Fury not only landed more blows than Ngannou but also punched more efficiently.
Per Compubox, he connected with 71 total punches with a 31.8 percent success rate compared to 59 and 25.5 percent for his. Ngannou did claim a 37-32 edge in power punches, though.
In the end, Fury won the scorecards of two judges 96-93 and 95-94 to narrowly secure the victory. A third judge went 95-94 for Ngannou.
That certainly creates a ready-made storyline for a return bout between the two, but when a rematch might materialize is anybody's guess. Fury's focus for now is on an undisputed heavyweight title encounter with Oleksandr Usyk.
