Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury: Why couldn’t the fight happen earlier?

One is a YouTube star turned boxer, while the other happens to be the brother of one of the best fighters in the sport today. It’s Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury and we’re taking a look at why it took so long to get this fight scheduled in the first place. From their war of words on social media, to a handful of ‘almost’ moments, we’ve now got a boxing match to look forward to that may well be one of the biggest we’ve had in quite a while.

Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury...finally!

Though many boxing fans are still undecided as to how they feel about Jake Paul, the fact that the president of the World Boxing Council, Mauricio Sulaiman, has already assured him that should he win against Fury, he will enter into the WBC’s cruiserweight rankings, should say something about the American’s credentials. Where Fury is concerned, the Brit is not a professional fighter but like Paul, is on the verge of staking his claim as one. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve been close to seeing these two guys fight. Indeed, it’s been more than a year now that this bout has been on the cards and for varying reasons never materialized. As we prepare for what promises to be a memorable match up, let’s take a look at all that happened between now and when they first floated the idea.

Why didn’t Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury happen before?

Boxing fans will of course remember, that it was last July when reports confirmed that the proposed fight between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury was being called off. It was in fact the second time that the pair had arrived at a stalemate regarding the bout. At the time, Fury, who is the half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, had been scheduled to face Paul on August 6th, but according to his own social media post, was denied entry into the U.S. by Homeland Security, due to what he initially called visa issues. It was later reported, however, that it was actually in connection to his ties to alleged mob, boss Daniel Kinahan. At that point, Paul accused the Brit who sits on an 8-0 record, of attempting to “weasel” his way out of their scheduled bout. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before Fury himself issued a statement in response.

What did Tommy Fury say?

Though many had hoped for a provocative response from the Brit, the 23-year-old simply lamented his inability to attend the fight in an Instagram post, before offering to fight against Paul in a neutral location, or after his immigration situation was resolved.

“I’m gutted and disappointed in regards to the issues I have faced with entry into the USA. This is something that myself or my team could have never anticipated happening. This situation has been left with my lawyers as being denied entry to a country is obviously a very serious issue and it needs to subsequently be resolved. I am confident this fight will happen when this issue gets resolved and we come to a solution. I want to clarify that I will fight in a neutral country that both parties can enter. This can be any time, any place, anywhere.”

What can we expect from Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury?

When looking at the two men, there really isn’t much separating them. For his part, Paul currently sits on a record of 6-0 with five being KOs. On the other side, Fury has an equally impressive clean sheet, with a record of 8-0 and 4 KOs registered. Yet, it’s worth noting here that records will mean little when these two enter into what has become a serious grudge match. On that has in fact been cooking since 2021. This is all to say, that as much as the pair aren’t top tier fighters, we’re expecting this one to be as epic as if they were.