Sports

Tyson Fury Knocked Down in 3rd Round Wins Controversial Split Decision over Francis Ngannou

Published

3 years ago

October 30, 2023

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35 year old British WBC Heavyweight Champion, Tyson Fury with 25 years’ experience in the boxing profession on Sunday survived a huge embarrassment with a third round knock down from a debut opponent, Francis Ngannou with a controversial split decision that did not go well with the crowd and the boxing greats at the ring side.

The duo came into Riyadh Saudi Arabia with funfair for the BATTLE OF THE BADDEST only for the challenger in the 10 round none title fight, Cameroonian Francis, THE PREDATOR to give Fury, THE GYPSY KING his 7th knock down of his boxing career in the 3rd round.

The Judges gave Fury the night with 96-93 and 95-94 while another Judge gave Francis 95-94 in the bout that has no clause for a rematch but Fury wants a rematch probably after the bout with Ukranian Olksandr Usyk who holds the IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA titles as he said (of Francis), “He gave me one of my toughest fights in 10 years. He’s a hell of a fighter”.

Fury had a defending to do holding his opponent severally and even gave an elbow punch along the line as the crowd shouted “Francis, Francis, Francis!”. He was highly criticized.

Hear Christiana Ronaldo: “How embarrassing is it that a Boxer had to cheat against an 0-0 in Boxing MMA fighter who was dog walking him”. (He was referring to the elbow punch of Tyson Fury). Ronaldo had placed a bet on millions of Dollars on the possibility of Francis winning. Ronaldo bought Francis an expensive custom wrist watch.

Francis who smiles to the bank with $10m was UFC Heavyweight Champion from 2021 when he stopped Stipe Miocic in round two to become the UFC champion of the world. He left thereafter after a small dispute with the UFC.

Tyson Fury who is 6ft 9ins tall and 19st 1 Lb had 34 fights winning 33, losing no bout but had a draw. Twenty-four of his bouts were Knockouts.

Francis Ngannou who was born in Batie, Cameroon had 20 fights of which 12 were knockouts winning 17 with three losses is 6ft 4ins tall and weighs 18st 3Lb. Francis said he has seen boxing now and he is ready for the art.

Francis’ entrance was magnetic as he came from a special throne with a beautiful Gold crown removed from his head to go into the ring my ‘terrible enfant’ of world boxing Iron Mike Tyson who walked him to the ring talking along and accompanied by his UFC folks, Israel Adesanya and Usman Kamaru of Nigeria.

There were also celebrities like Kanye West, Eminem, Ronaldo; UFC’s magic guy, Conor McGregor; Legend boxers Sugar Ray Leonard and Manny Pacquiao with others routing for Francis.

British Middleweight Boxer, Chris Eubank Jnr tweeted that he thought Francis had won. “It was close but he (Francis) was the aggressor who landed heavier shots and scored a knockdown. Fury deserved to lose after having so much trouble against a man who has never boxed before…too much filming Netflix specials not enough time in the gym I’m guessing. Unlucky Francis”.

Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk who is to meet Tyson Fury for the Heavyweight unification bout on 3rd December 2023 was also at the ringside grinning like a school boy as Francis pummeled Tyson Fury. He simply said “Am ready for Fury” but the bout may be put on hold because the Promoters of Saudi Arabia thinks it should wait until the season expires in March next year. Meaning the bout may be pushed to March.

Eniola Olaunji

Sports

Barcelona Scores 31 Goals In Season’s First 7 La Liga Rounds, Second Only To Sevilla’s 1940/41 Record

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5 hours ago

September 20, 2026

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In a La Liga Matchday 7 fixture, Barcelona defeated Sevilla 3-1 away from home.

Following this match, Barcelona remains firmly at the top of the La Liga standings with a perfect record of seven wins from seven games. In these matches, they have been prolific, scoring an impressive 31 goals.

In the history of La Liga, only one team has scored more goals than Barcelona after the first seven rounds: Sevilla, the same team Barcelona defeated on Saturday, who scored 40 goals in the first seven games of the 1940/41 season.

It is worth noting that in that season, Sevilla defeated Barcelona 11-1 in the opening match of the league.

Sports

Napoli Sign Nigerian Defender

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5 hours ago

September 20, 2026

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Napoli Women have officially completed the signing of Nigeria international defender Chidinma Okeke from Mexican club América Femenil.

The 26-year-old centre-back joined Napoli Women on a permanent transfer on Friday, September 18, and signed a two-year contract that will keep her at the Italian club until 2028.

Okeke arrives in Italy after two seasons with América, where she helped the Mexican club win the 2025/26 CONCACAF Champions Cup. She played 27 Liga MX Femenil matches during the 2025/26 season and also featured in seven Champions Cup games.

Her move to Napoli adds another European chapter to a career that has already taken her through Nigeria, Spain, Japan and Mexico. She joined Madrid CFF in 2019 after playing for Robo Queens in Nigeria, then moved to Mynavi Sendai before signing for América in August 2024.

The Nigerian defender can play at centre-back and also operate at full-back, giving Napoli another option in defence as they prepare for the new Serie A Women season.

Okeke has also built significant experience with Nigeria. She played at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup before featuring for the Super Falcons at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Her first competitive challenge with Napoli could come on September 26, when they open their 2026/27 Serie A Women campaign away to Juventus at Biella. The match is scheduled for 12:30pm local time in Italy, or 11:30am Nigerian time.

Napoli finished seventh in the 2025/26 Serie A Women standings, while the new season features 12 teams, with the top three earning places in the UEFA Women’s Champions League and the bottom side dropping into Serie B.

Okeke said she was pleased with her first days in Naples after meeting the coach, staff and new teammates, adding that her goal is to give her best alongside the team.

Sports

Arteta: Brighton Defeat Taught Us An Important Lesson

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19 hours ago

September 19, 2026

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In Premier League Matchday 5 fixture, Arsenal suffered a 0-3 away defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion. After the match, Arteta shared his thoughts on the game.

“Brighton & Hove Albion deserved the win. For large periods, especially in the first half, our fundamentals weren’t good enough. We didn’t win enough duels, and we didn’t win enough second balls, which made us struggle.”

“We made many mistakes, particularly against a team that likes to press high. We didn’t apply the defensive principles we should have, so we were constantly under pressure and couldn’t get out of difficult situations as we usually do. There’s a lot to learn from this, but ultimately, it’s disappointing.”

Was it surprising that a solution wasn’t found today?
“There are two points. First, credit to them for their style of play and their commitment in every action. We fell below our expected standards, even by Premier League levels. When we miss opportunities like we did today, everything becomes impossible.”

“I want to congratulate Brighton & Hove Albion on their performance. This is an important lesson for us. If I were to evaluate the team’s performance and competitiveness over the past six or seven weeks, it has been as expected, but today’s match taught us a profound lesson.”