BOXING

Tommy Fury: “Jake was a tough kid”

After over two years of trading smack talk, Tommy Fury and Jake Paul finally settled things in the boxing ring on Sunday.

Boxers Jake Paul and Tommy Fury met in the boxing ring in a full Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night. Leading up to the fight between the two, there has been nothing but smack talk for two years.

Paul had said he thinks Fury’s career is being ruined by his father and trainer, John Fury and that he was being forced into the fight by his partner, Molly-Mae Hague. Fury had withdrawn from two scheduled fights with Paul, once in 2021 when he was sick, and another time in 2022 when he was unable to get into the United States. That only served to increase tension between the two fighters.

Fury comes out victorious

In the end, Fury won the bout with Paul on a split decision by the judges. Finally, there was respect between the two. After the fight was over, Fury was talking to Paul, telling him, “you’re a tough man, you’ve come a long way”. Though Paul looked defeated, he told Fury, “thank you, bro” and shook Fury’s and his father’s hands.

The American Jake Paul is a social media influencer turned boxer and this was his first defeat as a professional. Fury, a British boxer, has been fighting since he was six years old, but Paul was the first professional boxer he ever faced. Paul is now 6-1 while Fury is undefeated with nine wins. When the fight ended, Fury burst into tears inside the ring.

“Don’t forget, I am only 23 years old,” said Paul after the fight. “I had the weight of the world on my shoulders tonight. My misses gave birth three weeks ago, there was a hell of a lot going on. And I’m just happy that I came out here, my team, my dad, everybody else…I’ll be leaving with a win, I’ll be leaving with a belt. And it’s just the best feeling in the world because over the past two and a half years, this is all that’s consumed my life.

Both of the boxers had good things to say about each other once the match was over.

“Jake was a tough kid,” said Fury after the match. “He took a lot of good shots. He was still there, so credit to himself. He didn’t have to take this fight. He could’ve fought anybody he wanted to, a lot of easier other challenges, but he wanted to test himself, so I can respect that.”

“Good fight, good war, tough kid,” said Paul. “I didn’t have my best performance. All fair play to Tommy. He won fair and square, and that’s boxing, man. You’ve got to take it on the chin.”