Michael Buffer reads the judges’ scorecards. The first from Garner is 95-94 for Ngannou. The second from Krebs is 96-93 for Fury. And the third from Pelayo is 95-94 … for Fury. Fury wins a split decision by one point on the third card!
Round 10
Fury has looked awful tonight against an opponent who has shown beyond all expectations, but he’s three minutes away from escaping with his pride intact. Fury lands a couple of scoring jabs. Ngannou isn’t throwing much at all. With a minute left Ngannou lunges in with a superman punch that Fury evades easily. Ngannou lands a lunging left in the final seconds. A very close round! Fury probably did enough to take it, but it really could have gone either way. Waiting on the official scorecards …
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Ngannou (Fury 96-93 Ngannou)
Round nine
Fury patient in the opening minute of the ninth. Maybe too patient. He paws with the jab in an attempt to keep Ngannou from closing distance. Ngannou trying to negotiate a way inside without taking damage. The pace has petered out. Fury is outboxing Ngannou in a round with not much action. Fury landed eight punches in the round compared to two for Ngannou, per Compubox.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 10-9 Ngannou (Fury 86-84 Ngannou)
Round eight
Fury batters Ngannou with a one-two combination upstairs. Ngannou takes it well and he’s not going anywhere. Now it’s Fury who lookes gassed, wrapping up Ngannou more and more often. A trickle of blow flows from his nose, a little more from his mouth. Ngannou is hitting Fury with clean shots, but Fury lands the best punch of the round with a massive right,. A very close round, almost too close to call. Ngannou shades it.
Guardian’s unofficial score: Fury 9-10 Ngannou (Fury 76-75 Ngannou)