Tommy Fury was already showered and dressed by the time Jake Paul marched to the ring for his Aug. 29 headliner against Tyron Woodley. That gave “TNT” plenty of time to position himself backstage for a potential “Problem Child” face off once Paul was done securing a split-decision victory against “The Chosen One.”
Fury, perhaps best known for being the half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, also competed last weekend in Cleveland, turning away mixed martial arts (MMA) bruiser Anthony Taylor after four rounds of boo-filled action. That performance, plus his clout as a reality show star in the UK, may be enough to finagle the next Paul fight.
“He got asked about me in the post-fight interview, didn’t have nothing to say,” Fury (7-0) told reporters about their backstage skirmish. “He confronted me in the hallway there, had about 15-20 team of him jump all over us. He was there. We were ready to fight there and then. He’s big in front of cameras, but small by himself, and Jake Paul realized tonight how hard the sport of boxing is and he got clipped with a little shot. So imagine if he got hit and dropped – I don’t know if you’ll see Jake Paul back in the ring again.”
With his victory over Woodley, which proved “The Problem Child” can take a punch following a fourth-round scare, Paul is likely to command a bigger and better opponent for his “sweet science” return. And with better opponents come better paydays, so Fury may find himself on the outside looking in.
“I’m not begging and pleading for this fight,” Fury continued. “I’m just a fighting man who will fight in the ring against anybody, and Jake Paul just happens to be calling my name an awful lot. But I’m here. I’ve done my part tonight. He’s done his part tonight. Why not make it next? It’s the fight that’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Nobody wants to see him fight another MMA kid. Why not come against a pro boxer? I’ve got a huge following in the U.K., and I don’t think it’s too bad in America, as well – so happy days there. It just seems right. But again, this is Jake Paul we’re talking about. Can he stand on? I don’t know.”
The victorious Paul stands at 4-0 with three knockouts.