, who had never lost in his career, most recently knocking out Derek Chisora in the 10th round in December 2022.
However, Ngannou was far from finished, having conserved enough energy to fight effectively late into the fight. He stormed back to win Round 7 and in an action-packed Round 8 where both men had their moments, badly hurt Fury again, who suddenly appeared exhausted himself. Fury, however, showed his championship mettle to win Round 9, with the fight all tied up for all three of Sherdog.com's virtual scorers.