Following the controversial split decision victory for Tyson Fury last night in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, many fans and pundits have voiced their opinion on the outcome of the ten-round fight, with many claiming that two of the three judges made the wrong decision by awarding the contest to Fury.
Recapping last night’s main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the former WBC, IBF, and WBA Champion Carl Froch and former WBA Super-Middlewight Champion George Groves spoke on a video call for Talksport, where they gave their views on last night’s action.
George Groves’ thoughts on the fight
Most people from both the boxing and MMA communities envisaged an easy fight for Fury, particularly considering how previous crossover boxing fights involving MMA fighters have panned out, and George Groves was no different:
”I’ll tell you what, I was guilty of not being ready when the fight started, with a little pen and paper and a little scoresheet set out. I didn’t think I would need to try and score this bout because I didn’t think it should be close. You’ve got the heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson Fury, up against a UFC fighter, a cage fighter who has never boxed before. I just thought Fury would pull him around (the ring). They might go the distance [or] they might not, but there will be no problem for Fury at all” – said Groves.
A problem for Fury there certainly was. In the third round, Ngannou dropped him with a crisp left hook, which shocked everybody who was watching. Fury returned to his feet and hid behind his jab for the remainder of the fight, failing to pose any significant threat to Ngannou. When the bout went the distance, the consensus on social media seemed to be that Ngannou had won. Despite that, it’s fair to say not many people were surprised when the scorecards were read out, revealing Fury to be the winner via split decision, retaining his status as the Lineal Heavyweight Champion of the world.
Controversial decision?
Dubious scorecards in boxing are nothing new, and conspiracies – if you can call it that – began circulating that the result was fixed to preserve the interest in a fight between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk at the end of this year. George Groves indicated that he agreed with this sentiment:
”Well, it was supposed to be an exhibition, so it’s not a real fight [It was confirmed earlier this week that it was a sanctioned professional bout and would therefore count on both fighter’s professional records]. You’ve got Tyson Fury fighting Oleksandr Usyk in seven weeks’ time for all the marbles, the road to undisputed, for every single belt. You can’t have the spanner thrown into the works [with] him losing to an MMA fighter weeks ahead of the biggest fight in boxing likely right now. It felt that once it went to the scorecards, I thought, well, you know, there’s no way Fury is not going to get it.”
Of course, George Groves’ comments are just speculation, and there is no evidence to suggest any corruption was at play last night. What is worrying, though, is that these thoughts are quite widespread in boxing, and questionable decisions are accepted for the most part. For argument’s sake, let’s say Geroge Groves is correct. If so, then it is a major issue, as major fights are being manipulated to ensure an outcome that is financially beneficial for the sport as a whole. This is potentially catastrophic for the sport if it were ever proven to be true.
What’s more likely [hopefully] is that controversial decisions result from inadequate judging, in which case more needs to be done by boxing commissions to ensure the officials are competent. This seems like it would be pretty easy to achieve, but as Carl Froch points out in the discussion, boxing is subjective. Some people value a fighter landing consistent punches, which cause minor damage, over a fighter who throws less but heavier punches. When rounds are close, as most were in the Fury Vs Ngannou fight, it can lead to wide discrepancies in the three judges’ scorecards.
Despite acknowledging that boxing is subjective, Carl Froch believes that Francis Ngannou was robbed of a victory last night. What wasn’t taken from ‘The Predator’, however, was his reputation. His valiant effort against arguably the best heavyweight boxer in the world proves that despite his lack of experience, he belongs in the sport of boxing. Fans will eagerly await Ngannou’s next move.
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