By Ian S Palmer
Jake Paul of Cleveland, Ohio will be getting it on with Tommy Fury of Manchester, England in an eight-round cruiserweight battle over in Saudi Arabia this Sunday, February 26th. The event will be broadcast on numerous pay-per-view platforms across the world such as BT Sport Box Office and ESPN+ as well as on DAZN and FITE TV in a few countries including Canada with the card getting underway at 2pm ET. The fight is supposed to take place at a catch weight of 185 lbs over eight rounds. Paul last fought in October when he dropped Anderson Silva in the final round on his way to an eight-round unanimous decision. Fury last saw action in April when he beat Daniel Bocianski on points over six rounds.
The 26-year-old Paul enters the ring with a perfect mark of 6-0 with 4 KO’s and has boxed 26 rounds since making his pro boxing debut in 2020. He stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 76-inch reach and has pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 66.7 per cent. He’s got decent boxing skills for somebody who made his name on You Tube and appears to take the sport seriously.
As for his list of opponents so far, most of them have fighting backgrounds at least as he’s taken on Ali Eson Gib, former NBA player Nate Robinson, Ben Askren, Tyrone Woodley (twice) and Anderson Silva. He stopped Gib in the first round, Robinson in the second round, Askren in the first round and Woodley in the sixth round of their rematch after fighting to an eight-round split decision win in their first meeting.
The 23-year-old Fury climbs into the ring with a perfect record as well as he’s 8-0 with 4 Ko’s for a current knockout ratio of 50 per cent but has gone the distance in his last three outings. Fury is the half brother of WBC Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury but is more known as a television personality in the UK rather than for his mediocre boxing exploits.
Fury has boxed 24 rounds since making his pro debut in 2018 and has beaten the likes of Jevgenijs Andrejevs, Callum Ide, Przemyslaw Binienda, Genadij Krajevskij, Scott Williams, Jordan Grant, Anthony Taylor and Daniel Bocianski. He stopped Ide and Binienda in the first round and halted Krajevskij and Williams in the second stanza. Fury’s six feet tall with an unlisted reach so he gives up an inch in height to Paul.
Prediction…
Both of these guys are basically celebrities who dabble in boxing and have been scheduled to fight a couple of times before with Fury pulling out on each occasion and he could do so again this weekend. Paul has faced some opponents with fighting backgrounds but has yet to meet an actual pro boxer. However the same might be said of Fury as the combined record of his eight opponents so far is an appalling 24 wins, 176 losses, and 5 draws and he’s been taken the distance in his last three outings. From what I’ve seen of Paul and Fury, I actually believe Paul has more potential as a boxer and is more determined to succeed. I’m not sure what to expect this weekend but if this is an actual fight it should be the toughest test for both of them. Fury may as well pack it in if he loses and Paul will supposedly get an official world ranking by the WBC if he wins. It can go either way and let’s not forget a draw is a good possibility, but I honestly have to give Jake Paul a bit of an edge as he’s arguably faced tougher opposition than Fury and fared better.
