Home Boxing ‘Bad look’: Tennis great Andy Murray joins pile-on of Tyson Fury as pre-fight words haunt champ

‘Bad look’: Tennis great Andy Murray joins pile-on of Tyson Fury as pre-fight words haunt champ

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‘Bad look’: Tennis great Andy Murray joins pile-on of Tyson Fury as pre-fight words haunt champ

The hits keep coming for Tyson Fury with tennis great Andy Murray joining the backlash against the boxing world champion.

The “Gypsy King” has been torched around the combat sport world following his shocking performance against MMA beast Francis Ngannou in their exhibition fight in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Fury on Monday lost his $A287m December 23 undisputed decider with Oleksandr Usyk as a result of the injuries he suffered against Ngannou.

Fury was told after the fight his performance was “embarrassing for boxing” — and Murray was just as brutal when sharing his opinion.

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“How many points would the world no1 squash player win vs the world number 1 tennis player in a tennis match and vice versa? Im thinking close to zero for both….bad look for boxing,” Murray posted on Twitter.

His comments came after Ngannou himself also took a cheeky swipe at Fury for his tennis-related pre-fight sledging.

After the weigh-in, Fury said: “I think he’s a big, fat sausage, and I’ll knock him spark out.

“We don’t get paid for long, we get paid for short, and I’m gonna make it nice and short for him.

“He offers absolutely nothing. It’s like a tennis-table champion facing Djokovic in a Wimbledon final. Boxing isn’t about two men brawling; it’s a gentleman’s sport, it’s a sweet science, it’s whoever’s got the most ability to set up a knockout punch.”

Ngannou had the last laugh.

Fury is walking away from the fight with his legacy in tatters.

Fury admitted after the fight it was his toughest challenge over the past decade.

“That definitely wasn’t in the script,” Fury said.

“He’s given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years.

“Francis is a hell of fighter, strong, big puncher, and a lot better boxer than we all thought he would be.

“He’s a very awkward man and he’s a good puncher and I respect him a lot.”

The scorecards saw one judge hand the win to Ngannou but it was Fury who claimed the victory on the other two. It was a result that didn’t sit well with all fans.

The display from Fury was torn to shreds during the post-fight coverage with pundits believing it showed the heavyweight champ was washed up.

“Tyson Fury looked a little bit washed tonight and I don’t know why,” Todd Grisham said on DAZN.

“No matter what brave face they (promoters) put on, they’re embarrassed. If he lost he would have been humiliated. This could have been a complete disaster for boxing and for Tyson Fury’s career.

Britain’s Tyson Fury embraces Francis Ngannou after their heavyweight boxing match. Photo by Fayez NURELDINE / AFP.Source: AFP

“He went down a big peg tonight.”

Grisham said Ngannou will be disappointed watching a replay because of how inactive he was in the final two rounds.

“He could have won this fight. He should have won this fight. Tyson on the cards didn’t lose, but I think he lost his mystique,” he said.

“When he said at the end there, ‘We should clear the ring out, let’s go’ — nobody’s buying it anymore. No one’s going to look at him now and say he’s the pound for pound king.”

Former world champion Barry Jones said on the broadcast Ngannou was the “only real winner” from the fight.

“A first time boxer does that to you? That’s honestly embarrassing,” he said.

“That tonight was awful. From start to finish. He looked tentative. Afraid at times. He looked like a guy who had run out of ideas and I never thought I would say that about Tyson Fury.”

DAZN sport commentator Ade Oladipo said: “I’m still quite speechless by what I’ve just seen. That’s embarrassing for boxing that was”.

Steve Bunce, boxing expert, said on TNT: “ That was a dreadful Tyson Fury performance. He got away with one tonight, he really did”.

Former British champion Chris Eubank Jr, writing on X, said: “Fury deserved to lose after having so much trouble against a man who has never boxed before. Too much time filming Netflix specials not enough time in the gym I’m guessing.”

A fellow DAZN commentator went even further: “I think the whole perception of his resume is tarnished now. People are going to look at Tyson Fury a lot different then they did before.”

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