TYSON FURY has been branded a “dirty” fighter following his controversial win over Francis Ngannou.
The WBC king preserved his undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk with a narrow points victory over the former UFC heavyweight champion in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
Fury, 35, was dropped by the boxing novice in the third round of the Riyadh Rumble, which SunSport understands landed him the biggest payday of his career.
The second biggest talking point of the night was the elbow Fury landed flush on the forehead of MMA man-mountain Ngannou in the sixth round.
Several fight fans were left stunned by Fury’s landing of the illegal blow, but not Deontay Wilder’s coach Malik Scott.
He told ESNews: “Elie Seckbach, my good friend, has been saying for many, many years what Tyson Fury put on display the other night.
READ MORE IN BOXING
“Elie has been saying for many years that Tyson Fury is dirty.
“Now the world is seeing him throw elbows intentionally at Francis Ngannou, all of that [leaning and pushing].”
Scott’s sentiment was shared by Hall-of-Fame promoter Lou DiBella, who tweeted: “Flush, timed, power elbow to the forehead.
“Dirty AF. Francis doesn’t flinch. Man has a chin.”
Most read in Boxing
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS AND BONUSES NEW CUSTOMERS
Ngannou himself called out the illegal strike after watching back his herculean performance.
Along with footage of the incident, he wrote on X: “Unlike the Superman punch, this was f**king illegal.”
Fury was all set to face Usyk in a long-overdue unification fight on December 23 before being embarrassed by Ngannou.
But their showdown – which Fury refused to comment on in the aftermath of the bout – has been pushed back until February.
Before setting off for Heathrow with wife Paris, the Wythenshawe warrior said: “They’ll sort it out when they sort it out.
“Until that day, don’t bother me with boxing.
“I’m going home, I’m going to spend some time with my kids.
“I’ve been away for 12 weeks. I’ve got a newborn baby I’ve seen three times.
“He’s six weeks old. I’ve done my job and been paid, happy days.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
