I've no excuses..it's the fight game, not tap dancing

Fury insists he only has himself to blame for Ngannou flop

- CHRIS MCKENNA

TYSON FURY says he only has himself to blame for his horror show against boxing novice Francis Ngannou.

The WBC heavyweight champion edged out the mixed martial arts fighter on Saturday's scorecards by a split decision after a shambolic showing in Saudi Arabia.

Fury had to get up off the canvas in the third round as he put in a laboured performance against a fighter who had never properly boxed before.

It could now push back his undisputed showdown with WBA, IBF and WBO title holder Oleksandr Usyk from December 23 to February.

Fury refused to point the finger at any of his team for his Riyadh performance.

On IFL TV, the 35-year-old said: "It was a below-par performance but take nothing away from the other man, you're only as good as your opponent will let you be, that's a fact. If I'd have listened to the media and the so-called boxing experts saying, 'Oh it's an easy fight, it's a mismatch, not worth watching, then I wouldn't have been able to win that fight.