Tyson Fury has come out to say “blame me” for what admitted was a “below par performance” from the WBC heavyweight champion of the world against MMA fighter, Francis Ngannou, who knocked the pro boxer down and who many feel deserved to win the match.
Fury faced former UFC fighter Ngannou, who had no previous orthodox boxing experience prior to the cross-discipline bout, on Sunday night and despite emerging victorious following a split decision, has sparked controversy across the fighting world, with many claiming the result was ‘rigged’.
Ngannou, 37, managed to deck ‘The Gypsy King’ in the third round and, in many viewers eyes, was the more dominant and aggressive of the two fighters on the night, but the judges still ruled 96-93 and 95-94 in Fury’s favour, with only the third judge scoring the Cameroonian-Frenchman ahead by 95-94.
While the fallout from the fight is still simmering — Mike Tyson, Carl Froch, Chris Eubank, Eddie Hearn, Ngannou himself and many more insisting that he should have won — a couple of days on from the fight, Fury has now come out to shed some light on how it went down, admitting he wasn’t at his best.
"BLAME ME IF YOU'RE GONNA BLAME ANYBODY"
Full interview with @Tyson_Fury now LIVE on our YouTube channel ‼️
Tyson Fury says ‘blame me’ for the knockdown and a sub-par performance in the ring.
Speaking to iFL TV ahead of flying home from the equally controversial fight venue in Saudi Arabia, the 35-year-old from Wythenshawe argued that although he believes there’s no one to blame for the fight not necessarily going according to plan, if blame has to be placed on anyone it should be him.
“It wasn’t the best performance but I’m not going to make any excuses, said Fury. “I had a good camp… It was a tough fight, I had to get off the floor to win… yeah, it was a below-par performance but take nothing away from the other man. You’re only as good as your opponent will let you be and that’s a fact”.
Despite having compared the match-up against the former UFC champion to being “like a table tennis champion facing Djokovic in the Wimbledon final” (something Ngannou was quick to mock his opponent with shortly after), the MMA specialist gave him a tougher fight than many expected.
Insisting that he “didn’t train for a fight like that”, Fury went on to add, “There’s no ‘who to blame’ — blame me. There’s no ‘blame the trainer’, ‘blame the manager’, ‘blame the cutman’; blame me if you’re gonna blame anybody. It was what it was — it’s the fight game, not tap dancing.
🔹The rules of boxing state that the count starts, only when the ref starts counting. 🔹Tyson Fury did beat the count. 🔹However it was poor officiating and the seven seconds taken to start the count, definitely helped Tyson Fury. 🔹The odds were stacked against Ngannou. https://t.co/I7mUOUmXRz
Detailing exactly why the ex-UFC fighter was difficult to deal with, the Manc boxing icon described Ngannou’s style as “a lot more awkward than [he] thought he was going to be”, refusing to “walk on” to more of the traditional shots you would expect from someone who hasn’t typically trained as a boxer.
He also explained the knockdown as a result of him “being greedy” and wanting to get in an extra hit after a one-two which simply resulted in his opponent catching him on the way out. While many fight fans will continue to argue the final decision was incorrect, the official CompuBox punch stats did seem to reveal that Fury landed more hits and that Ngannou simply landed a few extra power shots.
Ultimately, Fury did concede that he “was good at what he was doing”, adding, “Fair play to him… he gave me a better fight than all the boxers did in the last 10 years”. Some pretty high praise.
Featured Image — iFL TV (via YouTube)/Francis Ngannou (via Twitter)
Sport
Southampton youngster bids goodbye to boyhood club ahead of Manchester United move
Danny Jones
Southampton FC youngster, Harley Emsden-James, has bid goodbye to his boyhood club ahead of an imminent move to Manchester United.
The promising 16-year-old defender, who has already impressed plenty of youth scouts in the under-18s Premier League, is set to become Man United’s latest summer signing, making that four so far.
Identified not just by the Red Devils recruitment team but tipped for big things by their new Director of Football, Jason Wilcox – who was with the Saints before arriving at Old Trafford – he’s clearly thought of very highly already.
Posting on Instagram over the weekend, the Southampton-born centre-back shared images of himself as an even younger boy (joining the academy at age 7) along with a heartfelt farewell message.
As you can see, the caption touches upon almost a decade with the club, writing, “I’m incredibly grateful for all the memories made and the amazing people I’ve met throughout the journey.”
He goes on to add: “A huge thank you to all the staff who have supported and guided me over the years, to my teammates who’ve become friends, and to everyone who’s been a part of this chapter with me.
“Southampton will always hold a special place in my heart. On to the next chapter!”
Currently signed to Puma, the England prospect’s move to Manchester was confirmed by Fabrizio Romano back in June, and there seems to be an understanding that Wilcox knows him well already.
United are reported to have paid around £1 million for the young Southampton defender’s signature, fighting off other suitors, including Man City, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Spurs and more.
Having recently shifted appointments in the INEOS administration, initially being appointed as Technical Director back in April 2024, the previous Premier League winner and coach, now looks to be spearheading MUFC’s transfer business and a big chunk of the youth development.
Some clips of Harley Emsden-James (09) from 🏴U15 vs 🇺🇸 a few months back Righty CB made his U18 PL debut for Southampton yesterday Relatively physically advanced of which he imposes well in his age-group. Brilliant composure w ball-at-feet – prominent+strategic passing eye pic.twitter.com/ugE5fXBxBW
Although the belief is that Emsden-James will be dropped directly into Man United’s U18s PL squad, rather than be blooded into the first team, there is an expectation that he will feature as part of Ruben Amorim’s first pre-season tour, so he will benefit from training with more senior figures at the very least.
On the other hand, along with the likes of fellow new arrival and defensive partner, Diego León, we wouldn’t be too surprised if you see them given minutes amid issues with squad depth, injuries and not quite as much transfer activity as many may have hoped for.
Looks like United may once again be putting that old ‘you can’t win anything with kids’ adage to the test.
Gymshark is opening its first standalone northern store in Manchester this weekend
Emily Sergeant
A huge new Gymshark store is opening in Manchester tomorrow, and it’s the brand’s first standalone store in the North.
The global sportswear and fitness brand will be setting up shop at the Trafford Centre and taking over a large 7,500 ft space on Upper Peel Avenue with all of its iconic Gymshark ranges, including the massively ‘Vital’ and ‘Power’ collections, as well as some exciting new exclusives for Gymshark Trafford Centre.
The store itself is said to have Gymshark’s ‘increasingly trademark’ look and feel throughout it, including mannequins that are created from the image of real people in the community, different destinations for its hero products, and spacious changing rooms with bespoke lighting.
Unfamiliar with Gymshark? Since it was founded by Ben Francis from his garage in 2012, the brand has gone on to become one of the UK’s greatest business success stories of the 21st century – with more than 20 million people across 200 countries now counting themselves as members of the Gymshark community.
Gymshark is opening its first standalone northern store in Manchester this weekend / Credit: Supplied
The new Trafford Centre will be Gymshark’s first standalone store in the UK outside of London, and follows recent openings in Dubai and Amsterdam, as well as coming ahead of the opening of Gymshark’s first flagship store in the US later this year.
Most importantly, it builds on the brand’s long association with Manchester, as one of the first-ever Gymshark meet-ups was in the city, as well as its first ‘Lift’ event post-COVID.
Gymshark also credits the public’s reception to its space inside Selfridges at the Trafford Centre as one of the driving forces behind its choice to open a permanent store within the shopping centre, calling it ‘nothing short of spectacular’ and adding that the new opening genuinely solidifies Manchester’s role as a ‘big brother’ to a Brummie brand.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Gymshark’s first Northern store to Trafford Centre this weekend, joining our growing athleisure and sportswear offering at the centre,” commented Simon Layton, who is the Centre Director at Trafford Centre.
“We have no doubt that Gymshark will prove immensely popular and can’t wait to welcome them on opening day.”
Gymshark is opening at the Trafford Centre tomorrow (Saturday 12 July) with a grand ribbon cutting at 10am, followed by goody bags, refreshments, and merch being handed out for those waiting in line.
There’ll also be different fitness challenges to take part in too, in true Gymshark spirit.
Danny Jones -
30th October 2023 
