NGANNOU IS THE REAL CHAMP – MIKE TYSON HAILS EX-UFC STAR AFTER DEFEAT TO FURY

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Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson expressed his thoughts on the fight between Tyson Fury and ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou, in which the WBC champion won by split decision.

Mike Tyson, 57, declared Ngannou the true champion, praising his performance against Fury in the October 28 fight in Saudi Arabia.

“The real champion is Francis Ngannou! I’m proud of the way you performed,” Mike Tyson, 57, tweeted.

The British boxer won by split decision despite being knocked out by Francis Ngannou in the third round.

Meanwhile, Fury, who earlier this week mocked his opponent as a “big fat sausage,” later admitted that the 37-year-old Cameroonian had effectively kept him off balance.

“He’s a very awkward man, and he’s a good puncher and I respect him a lot,” Fury said of Ngannou, adding that it was “probably my toughest fight in 10 years”.

Fury was the overwhelming favourite against boxing novice Ngannou.

“This was my first boxing match, great experience –- I’m not giving any excuse,” Ngannou said in a ringside interview.

“I know I come up short, I’m going to come back and work harder… now I know I can do this.”

Fury came out swinging in the first round with a hard right hand but sustained a cut to the forehead in the second round and looked especially sluggish after hitting the mat in the third.

The final rounds dragged as both men tired, neither able to land a decisive blow.

“I don’t know how close it was, but I got the win and that’s how it was,” Fury said.

“Fair play to Francis, he cut my head here. It was a good fight.”

Fury’s WBC heavyweight belt was not on the line in the “Battle of the Baddest” in the capital Riyadh, but Saudi officials nevertheless hoped it would further boost the Gulf kingdom’s reputation as a top-flight boxing destination.

With all parties desperate to lend the contest some sporting legitimacy, the WBC had fashioned a “Riyadh Champion” belt to allow the winner to strut around the ring at the end with something other than a fat pay cheque.

Fury has been linked with a £50 million ($60.6 million) payout from Sunday’s exhibition bout, while he has said in the British press that Ngannou will earn £10 million.

Fury has a far more serious bout lined up in Riyadh in December against the Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who currently holds the other three world titles.

“I’m going to go home, I’ve been in training camp for 12 weeks,” he said on Sunday.

“I’ll take a long hard rest and see what’s next for us.”