Tyson Fury, the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion of Britain, defeated Cameroon-born fighter Francis Ngannou of France by points in the latter's debut match as a boxer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.

One of the judges scored it 95-94 for Ngannou, but the other two ruled it 96-93 and 95-94 for Fury after 10 rounds of fighting. Fury's WBC heavyweight belt was not on the line. He took a left hook on the temple by Ngannou in the third round and almost lost by a knockout (KO). However, he beat the count, just like he did on the previous six occasions.

"That definitely wasn't in the script," Fury said. "He's a very awkward man, and he's a good puncher, and I respect him a lot. He wasn't coming forward; he was standing back, waiting for me. He's given me probably one of my toughest fights in the last 10 years."

Having been a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter for nine years between 2013 and 2022, Ngannou departed the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for professional boxing in May. He actually stood face-to-face with Fury in April 2022 in London on the night when Fury beat Dillian Whyte.

"He's a good boxer. He's a lot better than I thought he'd be, and he gave me a good fight," Fury said of Ngannou. "I would like to do it again down the line, and I'm sure Francis would like to do it as well."

"I'm a fighter," Ngannou said. "We can run it back again, and I'm sure I will get better. This was my first boxing match. It was a great experience. I'm not giving any excuse. I know I came up short. But I'm going to go back and work harder with a little more experience and little more feeling of the game. And I will come back even stronger."

Fury is scheduled to fight Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine to unify the WBC, World Boxing Organization (WBO), World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) heavyweight titles on December 23.