Tyson Fury conceded his bout against Francis Ngannou “didn’t go to script” as he squeaked out a split decision victory despite being knocked down.

A heavy favourite going into the bout, many felt Fury wouldn’t require all ten rounds against the former UFC heavyweight champion.

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However, it was Ngannou who stunned the combat world when he dropped Fury with a sweet counter-left hook in the third round.

The crowd was left silent as many simply could not believe Ngannou had knocked down the WBC heavyweight champion in his professional boxing debut.

Ngannou even left Fury slightly bloodied on his forehead from a clean strike.

However, the Cameroonian began to tire in the middle of the fight as Fury, sensing the urgency of the situation, picked up the pace and piled on the pressure.

Although Ngannou managed to find a second wind late in the fight — even pulling off a Superman punch — it was not enough to edge past Fury.

And even though the mixed martial arts superstar lost on the scorecards with two judges awarding it in Fury’s favour (96-93, 95-94) and one in his favour (95-94), Ngannou could certainly feel he won over the boxing community with his performance.

Speaking after the fight, Fury knew he almost bit off more than he could chew against Ngannou.

“That definitely wasn’t in the script,” Fury said in his post-fight interview.

“Francis is a hell of a fighter… a lot better boxer than we all thought he would be.”

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

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

Speaking about being knocked down: “That’s part of boxing. I got caught behind the head again. I was alright. I got up and it was what it was. I got back to boxing.”

The WBC champ pointed to “ring rust” as the reason for his sluggishness, but had “no excuses” for the performance.

As for Ngannou, he took plenty of comfort in the fact he took Fury all ten rounds and told the rest of the world to watch out.

“At first I was a little nervous,” Ngannou said.

“Now I know I can do this s***. Hey baby, get ready!”

Fury’s victory over Ngannou was the only fight of the entire event that went the distance, as every bout on the undercard ended with a knockout or TKO.

New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker, a close pal of Fury’s, was the pick of the bunch as he delivered a sweet uppercut that rendered tough Canadian Simon Kean almost unconscious.

Parker had the better of Kean from the get-go but it didn’t stop him from beckoning the Kiwi forward to meet him in the middle and throw down.

But that backfired epically when Parker was too happy to oblige and finished him with the very next punch.

Arslanbek Makhmudov continued the relentless run of stoppages as he barely broke a sweat against Junior Anthony Wright.

Makhmudov dropped his rival with a tidy combo and although Wright did well to get back to his feet, the finish was inevitable as the Russian maintained his perfect record with the 18th win of his career.

Moses Itauma, who’s just 18 years old, needed just 53 seconds to dispath Istvan Bernath in brutal fashion.

The talented teen fired off a brutal left jab in the opening few seconds which rocked Bernath before the two clinched.

Once they were separated again, Itauma broke through Bernath’s guard with a stinging right uppercut and followed it with a right hook en route to the first round stoppage.

Martin Bakole also got on the finishing trend when he beat Carlos Takam while Jack McGann earned a TKO victory over Alcibiade Duran.

FULL RESULTS

Tyson Fury def Francis Ngannou via SD (95-94, 96-93, 94-95)

Fabio Wardley def David Adeleye via TKO

Joseph Parker def Simon Kean via KO

Arslanbek Makhmudov def Junior Anthony Wright via TKO

Moses Itauma def Istvan Bernath via TKO

Carlos Takam def by Martin Bakole via TKO

Jack McGann def Alcibiade Duran Galvan via TKO