Tyson Fury made to wait in a corridor for 45 minutes
Tyson Fury's manager, Spencer Brown, has opened up about Fury's poor performance in his recent bout with Francis Ngannou
Fury fought MMA star Ngannou in the 'Battle of the Baddest' in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, October 28, and just scraped the win on a mixed decision.
The WBC heavyweight champion was flat, barely managed to get going, landing very little effective shots, with many feeling he was lucky to secure a points victory.
Fighting in his pro boxing debut, Cameroonian Ngannou even knocked the WBC World heavyweight champion down in the third round, which could have become one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.
Speaking to Boxing King Media, Fury's manager, Spencer Brown, was asked if there was anything in the lead-up to the fight that he felt may have affected his man’s performance in the ring.
Brown was keen to give credit to Ngannou and emphasised he was not making excuses, but did list some mitigating factors going into the bout.
He said: "Some things people are right about. We were held up in a corridor for 45 minutes.
"That’s not an excuse, but you’re warmed up, you get ready, then he’s in a corridor, 45 minutes later we’re still there because the dancers were still on.
"Maybe he’s overdone it. We went to the Champion’s Dinner the night before – that’s probably my fault, but we were contracted to do it. Ngannou was there as well but I do hold myself responsible for that. It’s just not heard of that you do stuff like that.
"Maybe we’d have liked the fight earlier. It was very late at night. We’re not used to that. Should have perhaps prepared for that. But listen, Tyson’s a consummate professional. That was not Tyson what we saw.”
Saudi Arabia has only recently stepped into the boxing sphere, securing big fight nights that would normally be reserved for the lives of Las Vegas.
The undercard bouts were held in a different arena in order for the Ngannou v Fury fight to have a lavish opening ceremony before it – which contributed to a less than electric atmosphere.
Still, Fury will need to deal with such issues going forward as he has signed a multi-fight deal with Saudi Arabia said to be worth £165million.
His proposed undisputed heavyweight clash with Oleksander Usyk is set to take place in Riyadh too, although it was all-but-confirmed after the Ngannou fight that it will now not be taking place on December 23.
BBN Editor, Tim Rickson, added his views on the fight, "All the reasons I have heard are completely legitimate to me. Being made to wait in a corridor for that long will definitely have an affect on your body. Tyson just never got going and that really explains why, for me. I have worked with many small hall fighters that have told me about fighting at midnight and burning nervous energy."
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