08 February 2024 , 12:10
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Francis Ngannou has hit out at the judges' "foolish" decision after his fight with Tyson Fury - but insists he secured a moral victory.
Ngannou dropped Fury in the third round of their fight last October before slipping to a narrow points defeat on the judges scorecards. The former UFC heavyweight champion was making his professional boxing debut in Saudi Arabia and will have just his second fight against Anthony Joshua next month.
And despite losing to Fury, Ngannou emerged with credit. "I mean, I won,” he said on the High Performance podcast. “Look at me now. Look at my life. Look at where I was when you think I lost. You think because some foolish judges make some decision, that changes anything in my life?
"My family that I was telling you about, they were sitting in the first row watching that fight. The dream that I was carrying since I was a kid, I was that night living that dream. On top of the world, I was there. And for all the people that [have] been doubting me, I was there proving them wrong. For everybody that ever looked down at me, I was there proving them wrong. They were home watching me on their TV.
"I have won everything. You think because some judges make a decision? It’s not a court. The only decision that a judge can make to change my life is a court, if they sign me to go to jail. But I’m out here. In fact, because of that fight, from that fight I won this fight. I won everything. I won everything that night in that fight. I think I won everything from boxing, and the least that they could get back was to get that, ‘Oh, you son of a b****, you’re not taking everything from us.’ What would have happened if they had given me a decision? It makes boxing look really bad. They need to save face at some point. I understand it."
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Ngannou will start as the underdog against Joshua but has promised to shock the world against the former two-time world champion. “They say never say never. Nothing is impossible, right?” he added. “We don’t know the strength of Anthony Joshua, but even though I don’t believe he has that strength, but we’re going to find out in two months. We’re going to find out, and I think the reverse is going to happen. I’m going to be the one taking his soul.”