Social media superstar Jake Paul has seen plenty of highlight reel knockouts in his short boxing career. Those knockouts have come against other social media personalities, a former NBA player and former MMA champions. Now, Paul will finally attempt to end his feud with a pro boxer when he takes on Tommy Fury on Feb. 26 in Saudi Arabia. The fight is set for early afternoon in the U.S. on Sunday and will air on ESPN+ PPV.
Paul (6-0, 4 KO) was supposed to face Tommy Fury, brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, only to see the fight fall through for a second time when Fury was barred from entering the United States. Now, the two appear to have worked things out with the fight being hosted in Saudi Arabia.
Paul, 26, was able to fight just once in 2022 after the multiple delays endured from the Fury fights falling through. He scored his most impressive win to date when he outpointed Anderson Silva and scored a late knockdown in the fight. Fury, meanwhile, boasts an 8-0 mark with four knockouts to his name,
On Sunday, Jake Paul will take on Tommy Fury in a boxing match that has been going on for over a year. Paul is a boxer who turned his YouTube star. Fury is a British reality TV star, best known for being the half-brother of boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
His 185-pound, eight-round catchweight bout of them was held in Saudi Arabia and can be watched on pay-per-his views via ESPN+.
So how did this match between his two invincible boxers become such a big deal in the martial arts world and, more importantly, what does it mean? Huh? Some may see it as a calculated next step in the escalation of the pole phenomenon that continues to confuse fighting games. One might assume that he stepped in to have a hyped boxing career that never involved a real boxer as an opponent.
Neither are wrong.
Respect to Jake Paul…
“He talks about Anderson Silva and Tyrone Woodley a lot,” Fury said at Thursday’s pre-match press conference, mocking Paul’s objections. Anderson Silva was nearly 50 years old, not far from my father’s age.
“Everybody in this building knows that MMA fighters are not boxers. I couldn’t even handle it. … Sunday night you have a fresh young 23 year old real legitimate competitor in and out of the ring. This is my heart, my blood, my soul and you will feel it.I am not a 50 year old man. “
Kudos to Paul for staying in the ring. It’s not easy. But his objections were dubious at best. The former Disney actor started his boxing career by defeating YouTuber AnEsonGib with no boxing experience. He then stopped former NBA player Nate Robinson. It was pretty celebrity boxing.
Shortly thereafter, things took a turn for the better, with an interesting ‘boxing’ career making him one of the most talked about ever. Paul chose an old but popular MMA name to claim an odd stake in the world of boxing.
In 2020, he knocked out Ben Askren, a retired MMA fighter and outstanding wrestler who had just undergone hip surgery. Then, in a two-fight series, he faced former UFC Welterweight Champion Woodley (at 40, he had four straight losses and he had just been released from the UFC), brutally keeping him off. Woodley, who has not won a match since 2018, was never known as an accomplished forward in MMA despite his impressive strength.
And in his final appearance last October, Paul defeated his beloved MMA legend, Silva, by unanimous decision. Possibly the greatest middleweight champion in UFC history, Silva left the Las Vegas-based promotion in late 2020 due to his worrying career slump. The 47-year-old has been stopped in his last two games and has won just one of his last nine moves to the octagon. Outside the UFC, he won two boxing matches before fighting Paul, kicking out Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and knocking out Tito Ortiz.
