FILE - Francis Ngannou during a heavyweight championship mixed martial arts bout against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Boston. Being the best heavyweight boxer in the world isn’t enough for Tyson Fury. He has appeared in WWE, been the subject of a Netflix reality series and is now in the Middle East to fight a former UFC star in the latest in a crossover bouts. Fighting Francis Ngannou on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023 will earn Fury a reported $50 million. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File)AP Photo/Gregory Payan, File

The general consensus among boxing fans is that former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou was robbed of a win against WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in a 10-round bout on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Fury narrowly defeated Ngannou via split decision (96-93, 95-94, 94-95).

The highly competitive bout appeared to reach a turning point when Ngannou knocked down Fury with a ferocious left hook. It marked the seventh knockdown of Fury's career.

Top Rank Boxing @trboxing

NGANNOU JUST DROPPED FURY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<a href="">#FuryNgannou</a> | <a href="">#BattleOfTheBaddest</a> | <a href=""> <a href="">

Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

These photos 🥶<br><br>(📸: Justin Setterfield) <a href="">

However, Fury regained his form and the two continued to battle through a full 10 rounds.

While Ngannou lost the fight, it was quite the coming out party for the 37-year-old in his professional boxing debut, and many believe he should have won, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid:

LeBron James @KingJames

Exactly why i don't watch boxing! C'mon man! 🤦🏾‍♂️

Joel Embiid @JoelEmbiid

NO F WAY FRANCIS GOT ROBBED🇨🇲🇨🇲

Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani

Bullshit. <br><br>Francis won that fight. I don't care what anyone says. <br><br>People's champ. All hail. <a href="">

Nathan Diaz @NateDiaz209

Tyson fury lost and the boxing commentary biased af dumbasses they need to learn how to box ..

Canelo Alvarez @Canelo

😳

Damian Lillard @Dame_Lillard

Wtf!?

ksi @KSI

Congrats Ngannou, you're the people's champ 🙌🏿

Henry Cejudo @HenryCejudo

Ngannou was robbed! Gotta protect that fight with Usyk 🤷‍♂️ <a href="">

Logan Paul @LoganPaul

Really sucks to see Ngannou get blatantly robbed like that… boxing needs a more objective system in place for scoring<br><br>The subjectivity &amp; inherent bias of hand-picked judges is ruining the credibility of the sport 📉

Ngannou walked away from UFC as the heavyweight champion and entered the boxing world with fairly tepid expectations, but after Saturday's bout with Fury, fans will be clamoring to see how he stacks up with some of boxing's best.

As for Fury, he'll prepare for a bout against Oleksandr Usyk in an effort to defend his WBC title.