Why are we excited abut the Jake Paul v Tommy Fury fight?
by Steve Ashfield | by Kevin Richard
The Changing Face of Boxing
February 26 sees Jake Paul take on Tommy Fury at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia. It's a big pay day for both boxers (especially Paul) but why? Boxing has many pluses but sadly a whole lot of negatives. We see exhibitions between ageing fighters and paid huge amounts for taking part, especially if your name is Floyd Mayweather or Mike Tyson. This isn't an exhibition fight but one that has been created online on social media and that's happening a lot now in professional boxing and some big paydays are being earned.
No Love Lost between Paul and Fury
So this isn't an exhibition fight but why is so much focus be being placed on this bout? Jake Paul has only ever had six professional fights and he's won them all. However, he doesn't take on the kind of opponent you face when starting off your professional career. He's been up against MMA fighters with hardly any pro boxing experience, an influencer (whatever they are) and a basketball player. Yet he's making masses of money doing this.
It's the usual story with Jake Paul. The YouTuber starts a feud, trash talks all the way and the promoters come along and pay big bucks for the 'fight.' Yet the crazy situation at present is that the winner of this fight may be given a world ranking by the World Boxing Council (WBC). That would put them in a position to be given a crack at the world cruiserweight title currently held by Ilunga Makabu. Even worse, the WBC have announced the winner of this illustrious fight will receive thir Diriyah Championship belt. That's all we need another worthless belt in boxing.
Source: WBC Stoops To A New Low, Makes A Belt For Paul Vs. Fury Winner - Boxing News 24 .
All a bit crazy because respected boxing site boxrec.com rank Paul 378th in the cruiserweight division. Fury is 350th and usually boxes at light heavyweight. In many ways this should be a down the card fight not the top of the bill. However, millions around the world are expected to tune in to watch this fight on February 26.
Fury Determined to Put Paul in his Place
Sometimes a surname can be very useful. Would Tommy have been given this big payday if his surname wasn't 'Fury?' His famous half-brother is the WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. He might fight in Saudi Arabia in the future in a undisputed title match against Oleksandr Uysk, now that's a real boxing match. He's expected to be in Tommy's corner for this fight.
The shared surname helps but so does the fact that Tommy Fury also appeared in reality TV series 'Love Island' four years ago. That rather appalling show guarantees its contestants masses of publicity. Fury finished second in the series and he's been in the headlines ever since.
Just like his opponent, Fury is undefeated as a professional. Unlike Paul, he's faced opponents who are proper professional boxers. Not very good ones though. He made his professional debut in 2018 against Jevvenijs Androjevs who had already lost over a 100 professional fights and is up to 113 now with no win since 2015.
Fury took time off from his boxing career to take part in 'Love Island' where he got a very different kind of reaction for appearing in just shorts. When he returned to the ring plenty of attention was paid to his fights against low level opponents. He's still unbeaten but has mainly fought at light heavyweight, the division below cruiserweight.
That may well count against Fury with his opponent regularly fighting over 190 lbs. That's something you need to take into account when betting on boxing. Going up in weight is never easy to do and Fury may well find that out this weekend.
The trash talking has been going on for ages between Paul and Fury. They were due to meet last year but Fury pulled out injured, not that Paul believed him. The two had a WWE style showdown (Paul has appeared in WWE alongside his brother Logan) after Fury's last fight. That was on the support card to the Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte world title bout last year. Fury took on Daniel Bocianski in a light-heavyweight contest. His opponent is currently ranked 535th by Boxrec.
These kind of fights do bring in fans to the sport who wouldn't normally follow it. That's good to see but would it not be better if those fans watched high-class bouts not this one between a couple of novices? Sadly, it seems there is a place in boxing for this kind of fight. However, the WBC must not give the winner a ranking because whether it's Paul (the likely winner) or Fury, because they just don't deserve it.
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