TYSON FURY had to climb off the canvas and rely on the judges to rescue his £150million Fight of the Century and undisputed heavyweight world title decider with Oleksandr Usyk.
The Gypsy King was decked by the African Adonis in the third and badly bruised by the professional boxing debutant and looked destined for utter disaster.
But he was saved by shocking judges who somehow called the one-sided showdown: 95-94 Ngannou, 96-93 Fury and 95-94 Fury.
A luck Fury admitted: "That definitely wasn't in the script. Francis is a hell of a fighter.
"He's strong, he's a big puncher and a lot better boxer than we thought he'd ever be."
The 35-year-old added: "He's a very awkward man and he's a very good puncher.
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"And I respect him a lot, before the fight and after the fight."
The Saudi Arabia showbiz throwdown between the undefeated WBC champion and Cameroon’s 37-year-old MMA fighter – who never saw the inside of a professional gym until he was 22 – was supposed to be a mismatch.
It was planned as just a fancy sweetener for Saudi Arabia to bankroll a multi-fight deal which includes the mouthwatering decider with Ukraine’s WBA. IBF and WBO boss on December 23 and a potential rematch in the Spring.
But Ngannou – who made a life-changing £8m for his family for generations – almost ripped up the script by chasing Fury all over Riyadh and peppering with blows.
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Dad John had his boy’s WBC world title belt over his shoulder but it was not on the line but – thanks to a late deal done by the British Boxing Board of Control – Fury’s undefeated record was.
Ngannou had Mike Tyson – who Fury was named after – in his corner, more as a cheerleader and promotional tool than trainer.
Once the ring had risen up from underneath the ground where the stage stood seconds earlier, the cross-over action kicked off.
Fury raced across the ring and tried to knock Ngannou out with the first left hook of the night but missed the target.
The former UFC champ’s best effort of the opener was a double-jab-right hand that Fury had to use his incredible defensive skills to avoid.
The Brit’s best moment of the opener was a left-hook-right-hand counter after Ngannou had lunged in with a jab to his fleshy torso.
The only thing that reality threatened the Usyk Christmas cracker was an injury or cut to Fury so of course a small stream of blood broke out from the middle of his forehead in the second.
It looked like Ngannou had accidentally butted him and was thankfully far from his eyes and unlikely to cause any serious problems in this fight or the next.
Fury turned southpaw in the third and the biggest problem he seemed to be having was keeping his green shorts up over his 19st 11lbs love handles.
Then out of nowhere Ngannou – billed as the hardest punching person on the planet – landed a left hook that collapsed Fury.
Stunned yet smiling he somehow beat the count and danced around the ring, Usyk perched at ringside looked seriously concerned his dream was going up in smoke.
Flabby Fury was wobbly again in the fourth but managed to recover his senses and tag Ngannou back as he threatened to tire out.
Fury managed to land a big right hand in the fifth but Ngannou’s chin held up brilliantly while a welt started growing bulbous and purple under the struggling Englishman’s left eye.
In round seven Fury fell to the floor again and got tangled in the ropes but it was rightly ruled a slip and not another disaster.
Ngannou – who was supposed to gas out after a few early rounds – battered Fury almost senseless in round eight.
The shaven skull of the Morecambe mastermind was rattled all over the ring.
Fury boasted beforehand that Ngannou could never beat him even with a machete and pistol in his hands but a pair of 10oz gloves were doing just fine.
Fury ran away for all of the boring ninth, conceding control of the centre of the ring to a man who wasn’t even paid for his first two MMA fights and hid the £2000 he landed from his third under a single Paris slum mattress.
And the self-proclaimed Gypsy King ran deeper into exile in the tenth and final round, hiding on the outskirts of the ring, by the ropes, desperately trying to avoid getting knocked out and having the Usyk clash officially canned.
Former refugee Ngannou held his head up high despite being coming up short in his pro boxing debut.
The MMA man-mountain said: "We can run it back again and I'm sure I'm gonna get better.
"This was my first boxing match, [it was] a great experience.
"I'm not giving any excuses, I know I came up short. But I'm gonna go back and work harder.
"And with a little bit more experience and a little more feeling for the game and come back even stronger."
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"He added: Now I know I can do this s**t. So hey, baby, get ready. Get ready.
"The wolf is in the house. So I'm gonna bite some s**t."
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