“Exactly why I don’t watch boxing” - LeBron James joins fans in criticizing controversial Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou decision

NBA superstar LeBron James is not renowned as a fan of combat sports, and so he’d be one of the last athletes that fans would expect to discuss a big fight on social media.

However, it appears that last night’s boxing match between WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury and former UFC titleholder Francis Ngannou was a big enough fight to pique the interest of ‘King James’.

The bout, dubbed ‘The Battle of the Baddest’, saw Fury survive a third round knockdown to edge a split decision over ‘The Predator’.

The result has instantly drawn controversy with many observers, who felt Ngannou deserved the win, and it appears that LeBron James is amongst them.

The Los Angeles Lakers star took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his frustration with the outcome, ranting “exactly why I don’t watch boxing!”

Unsurprisingly, a number of fans were quick to agree with James, with a number posting some interesting responses on his X feed.

User @feldmanshotdogs labelled it a “Mickey Mouse decision”, while @lucidthoughts93 suggested questionable judging was to blame.

“They needed to set up Tyson’s next fight, Mickey Mouse decision.”

“And don’t forget that Fury was a -1250 betting favourite. Moneymakers and judges sadly cant let Francis win despite clearly winning.”

@Mar10_pro suggested that it’d be tricky to explain the decision in the future.

“Like how are we gonna explain to the future generations that Ngannou lost this fight when he knocked Fury and dominated the whole fight?”

@BobbyVj, meanwhile, stated that he understood LeBron James “100%”.

“I totally understand LeBron 100% on this issue. Since the Manny vs. Mayweather fight that’s when I knew boxing just wasting people’s time and money.”

This was an opinion echoed by @_PAPI27, too.

“Francis really wanted to spoil almost a billion dollar fight for promoters...call it robbery or whatever they don’t care, that’s how boxing works, it’s always about the bigger bag over what anyone sees.”

View a collage of comments on this issue below.

Fans comment on Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou

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LeBron James on Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou: Does the NBA star dream of fighting?

While he was happy to air his frustrations on the result of Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou, it doesn’t appear that NBA star LeBron James has any dreams of fighting in his own right.

However, back in 2015, UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan waxed lyrical about ‘King James’ and his athletic talents.

In fact, Rogan suggested that if he’d gone into MMA rather than basketball, James could’ve dominated the sport, suggesting “everybody would be f*cked” against him.

Watch Joe Rogan discuss LeBron James below.