Nothing Jake Paul saw at ringside Sunday night convinced him that Tommy Fury can beat him.
Paul provided scathing commentary throughout Fury’s nondescript six-round exhibition against late replacement Rolly Lambert on the Floyd Mayweather-Deji pay-per-view undercard at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Fury mostly jabbed and moved away from Lambert throughout a largely boring bout for which a winner wasn’t declared.
“This can’t be real, right?,” an incredulous Paul stated during the broadcast. “Like, is he actually trying? Or are people gonna actually pay me to fight this guy?”
Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s younger half-brother nevertheless remains a potential opponent for Paul’s next cruiserweight fight.
Bothered by Paul’s taunts, 58-year-old John Fury, who trains his son, took off his shirt and challenged Paul to enter the ring to fight him. Tommy Fury seemed calmer until Paul challenged his son to fight him at the ringside.
Tommy Fury’s team predictably restrained him as he tried to go after Paul. The show was essentially a promotion tool for a possible Paul Fury fight in 2023.
Paul (6-0, 5 KOs) was supposed to face Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) last December 18 and again August 6, but England’s Fury withdrew from both bouts. Paul, 25, defeated Tyron Woodley in round six of their immediate rematch December 18, at Amale Arena, Tampa, and out-pointed Anderson Silva in their eight-rounder October 29, at Desert Diamond Arena, Glendale, Arizona.
The 33-year-old Lambert (15-1-1, 12 KOs), a more experienced cruiserweight from Cameroon, replaced Fury’s original opponent, Paul Bamba, on extremely short notice Sunday because Fury weighed six-plus pounds more than what Bamba believed was their contracted weight limit Saturday. Bamba (5-2, 4 KOs), a light heavyweight from New York, didn’t box Sunday once his eight-round fight with Fury was scrapped.
Fury was booed by the crowd during the third round. Lambert then asked him to get involved. The fans’ displeasure didn’t encourage Fury to pick up the pace, as he mostly moved around without committing to his punches for the remainder of their bout.
Keith Idec, a senior writer/columnist with BoxingScene.com. You can reach him via Twitter @Idecboxing.