A boxing champ enlisted retired NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal to help him get Jake Paul’s attention this week about a potential summer showdown, and it totally worked out that way. Tyson Fury is boxing’s lineal and WBC heavyweight champion of the world, and his half-brother Tommy Fury is a rising cruiserweight star. Both boxers appeared in a new video released on social media Thursday that showed the Fury family sitting with Shaq and issuing their challenge to Paul.
You can watch the video below.
.@jakepaul it’s time to step up and fight a REAL boxer, @tommytntfury!
Let’s see if your the real deal mushy. #DontGetScaredNow #GotchaBalls #NoCap 🧢
The purpose of the video is clear. The Furys and Shaq want Paul to agree to a boxing match against Tommy Fury later this year.
But Paul responded to that video with his own viral video.
In this video, Paul blasted the Fury family for being “desperate”, told them to “leave Shaq out of this” because he’d already beaten up one ex-NBA star in Nate Robinson, and even doxxed Tommy Fury’s girlfriend for having allegedly recently slid into his direct messages on Instagram.
Yikes.
You can watch Paul’s video below.
Jake Paul responds to Tommy Fury’s latest call-out video with Tyson Fury…
[📽️ @JakePaul]
Team Fury vs. Jake Paul: ‘It’s Time to Step up’
Tyson Fury posted, “@jakepaul it’s time to step up and fight a REAL boxer, @tommytntfury! Let’s see if your the real deal mushy…”.
Tommy Fury later asked via Twitter, “@jakepaul are your balls big enough?”.
Paul is 3-0 as a pro boxer with 3 KOs. In his last fight, the 24-year-old stopped former UFC star Ben Askren in the first round by viral knockout.
But Askren made his bones in MMA via his grappling skills, and the other two wins for Paul came against a retired NBA star, Nate Robins, and a YouTuber, Ali Eson Gib (aka AnEsonGib).
So most fighters and fans are hoping to see how Paul would fare in his next fight against someone with more legitimate boxing skills.
Why Tommy Fury Might Make Sense
Enter Tommy Fury.
Tommy Fury, 22, is a British professional boxer and reality television star. Fury is 5-0 with 5 KOs. In 2019, he took part in ITV2’s “Love Island” reality TV series, finishing as a runner-up alongside girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague.
Fury would seem to fit the bill as a potential Paul opponent both as a reality star who might drive extra interest in the proposed megafight, especially across the pond, and as a fighter.
Most importantly, Fury is a legitimate boxer who has trained in the sport since an early age.
Why Tommy Fury Probably Doesn’t Make Sense
But Paul vs. Tommy Fury probably won’t happen, at least anytime soon.
Paul’s next boxing match will reportedly take place on Showtime. The YouTuber began his boxing career under the promotional banner of Matchroom Sports on DAZN, continued it on Triller’s Fight Club, and has now apparently signed a deal with Showtime.
Jake Paul’s next boxing match will be on Showtime.
(via @marc_raimondi)
So Paul’s promotional deal with Showtime probably means a fight against Fury is off the table.
Regardless, Fury’s boxing credentials would probably have kept him from getting the fight at this point anyway. After all, Paul is still a relative novice in the sport, and there would be no reasonable explanation for his promotional backers and management team putting him in a fight beyond his skill level just yet.
That’s already a pretty common move in boxing and doubly true when the fighter is already a huge celebrity superstar like Paul.
So Tyson Fury, Tommy Fury, and Shaq might have big plans for Paul this summer, but they shouldn’t get their hopes up just yet.
Paul vs. Fury is a fun idea, but it will probably have to wait for a later date.
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