Tyson Fury shows off black eye and bruised face following his controversial victory over Francis Ngannou… while the MMA star appears untouched after Saudi fight

Tyson Fury narrowly avoided the greatest boxing upset of all time on Saturday
Gypsy King was knocked down in the third round and left battered and bruised
JEFF POWELL: Fury was complacent and cumbersome, but Saudi bout was no fix

Tyson Fury showed off his battered and bruised face following his controversial victory over Francis Ngannou.

The Gypsy King took on the former MMA star in Riyadh in one of the most eagerly-anticipated bouts of the year on Saturday night.

The 35-year-old narrowly won the fight by split decision via a score of 94-95, 96-93, 95-94, but Ngannou left with much credit after a fine display in his first ever professional boxing fight.

Fury was knocked down in the third round and left battered and bruised following his crossover fight with the former UFC heavyweight champion.

But he insisted that there was nothing that could derail his undisputed heavyweight showdown with Oleksandr Usyk on December 23.

Tyson Fury showed off his battered and bruised face following his controversial victory

MMA star Francis Ngannou appeared untouched after the Saudi fight on Saturday night

The Gypsy King was pushed all the way by the former MMA star during the fight in Riyadh

Morecambe’s WBC heavyweight king had agreed a deal with Ukraine’s WBA, IBF and WBO to contest all the belts.

With nasty purple bruising all around his battered left eye, Fury insisted: ‘I’ve only got some surface bruising.

‘There was a little bit of a head clash and a few punches but nothing major, no serious injuries.’

Fury claimed his lacklustre performance was down to ring rust and having to lose 26lbs in just eight weeks.

‘I am not taking anything away from Francis Ngannou,’ he told Boxing King Media.

‘I trained very well and prepared very good.

‘But it’s boxing where you have good nights and bad and you just need to crack on forward and continue.

‘I felt my timing was quite off, I have been out of the ring nearly a year again.

‘I had a bit of ring rust, it was not one of my best performances, it was far from vintage Tyson Fury.’

When asked flat-out if December 23 was still on the cards, he said: ‘I leave all that to my team, I don’t get involved’.

Fury was knocked down by Ngannou in the third round as he took several hits in the face

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