Thank heavens for good old Tyron Woodley. The forty-year-old former Welterweight champion was kind enough to fight Jake Paul again. However, the circumstances of the contest could have been more forthright. The rematch substituted a fight scheduled earlier between Jake and Tyson Fury’s half-brother, Tommy Fury.
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Tommy fought against Jake Paul’s training partner, Anthony Taylor, on the undercard of Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley‘s first bout.
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Then, on October 29, 2021, an announcement about The TNT facing The Problem Child made headlines. Scheduled for December 18, the contest was to be along the lines of the Paul-Woodley fight. Cruiserweight, or 192 pounds, was the weight-limit set, and Showtime PPV got the broadcast rights in the United States.
The messages up in the air
In an interview with Anthony Pompliano, Jake Paul disclosed his direct messages to Tommy. Host Anthony Pompliano is a successful entrepreneur and investor. Reportedly, he spent over $100 million on early-stage digital startups, besides establishing and selling many. His crypto newsletter is “Off the Chain.”
Over the course of the discussion, Anthony was curious to know, “How much of this are you interested in making money from versus boxing? “How do you make decisions like, should I do something for the sport of boxing or should I do something to make money?”
Jake responded, “I’ve always leaned on doing something for the sport of boxing and earning people’s respect and going with a tougher opponent, but they just haven’t gotten in the ring with me; they’ve pulled out twice.”
Anthony probed further to see if Paul’s opponents were afraid of facing him. Jake used Tommy’s example to confirm how the Briton uses doublespeak and is evasive when asked about an upcoming fight with the former. Paul confirmed, waiting to receive answers despite sending personal messages to Fury. “Yeah, like I’m sending an offer tomorrow; we either need to do this or move on because the fans are fat and tired.” Look at the comments in your tweets. This is a big fight, and now it’s on the edge of being irrelevant. Your dad claims you want this; you say you want this; and I want this, so sign up.”
Jake Paul versus Tommy Fury I and II
By December 6, 2021, reports of Tommy withdrawing from the Jake fight due to a chest infection or rib injury trickled in. Boiling over the last-minute changes, Jake called Tommy “boxing’s biggest b****.“
However, talks between the camps resumed. Tommy announced on June 23 that the fight with Jake was on, with August 6 as the date of the battle. But fate had other plans. US authorities blocked Tommy’s entry to the US, and he couldn’t make it to the venue. So, typically, Jake issued online statements like, “Take them or admit you’re a scared little b*tch.”
Jake Paul and Tommy Fury (almost) III and hopes for 2023
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Jake and Tommy did meet sans the formalities of an official bout. On November 13, at Dubai’s Coca-Cola arena, Fury faced American Paul Bamba on the undercard of the Mayweather-Olatunji fight. But weight discrepancies prevented him from proceeding with the bout at the last moment. He had to settle for a non-scoring contest against a substitute, Rolly Lambert.
Never to miss a chance, the ever-present Jake taunted Tommy after the bout. Soon John Fury, Tyson, and Tommy’s father joined. The bare-chested senior Fury challenged Jake. Thankfully, the security personnel were alert enough not to let things slip out of their hands.
The back-channel talks are still on. Without spilling out the details, Papa Fury recently confirmed that a fight between the two is in the offing sometime in 2023. Jake’s manager, Nakisa Badarian, and John Fury have purportedly agreed to some basic terms.
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Given Jake’s latest interview, the clarity of a fight with Tommy Fury looks murky. Whatever the case be, a contest between the two would have swelled the interest of many crossover boxing fans, more so given their tumultuous history.
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