Tommy Fury wasn’t the least bit impressed by Jake Paul’s win against Anderson Silva.
Paul dropped the Brazilian MMA legend early in the eighth round and won their cruiserweight contest comfortably on two scorecards October 29. Nevertheless, Fury feels going the distance against a 47-year-old opponent who’s not a professional boxer amounted to a failure.
The 23-year-old Fury, who will finally oppose Paul on Sunday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, assessed Paul’s performance versus Silva during a recent interview with BoxingScene.com.
“I think Anderson Silva took the first round and the last round completely off,” Fury said. “He didn’t do anything in either of those two rounds, so I thought that was a bit odd. But at the end of the day, he’s boxed a 47-year-old man. If he can’t knock out a 47-year-old man, regardless of what they’ve done – and to be honest with you, it’s not even like he was fighting a 47-year-old former world champion boxer. He was fighting a 47-year-old cage fighter, a guy who was never a boxer, and still couldn’t get rid of him. And he looked like he had been through World War II at the end of it.”
Silva, a taller southpaw who lost by scores of 78-73, 78-73 and 77-74, didn’t dispute the outcome of their Showtime Pay-Per-View main event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) doesn’t have much amateur or professional boxing experience, either, but Tyson Fury’s younger half-brother is less than half of Silva’s age. The Manchester native belittled Paul’s record (6-0, 4 KOs) because the popular social media influencer has beaten a fellow YouTuber (Ali Eson Gib), a retired NBA point guard (Nate Robinson), a retired UFC fighter (Ben Askren) and two former UFC champions (Tyron Woodley and Silva).
“That just screams a bad night for him because I’m 23 years old, I’m fresh, I’m active, I’m hungry, I’m powerful,” Fury said. “This man’s got no chance at all. Regardless of who he’s faced in the past, he still hasn’t faced a boxer. And that’ll be his downfall. I mean, he should’ve probably boxed a journeyman. … Maybe he should’ve had a bit of an easier introduction into the professional ranks. But listen, I’m not complaining. He jumped straight into it and it’s gonna be a painful night for him.”
Though younger and fresher than Paul’s prior opponents, Fury also has something to prove in their eight-round, 185-pound fight. His amateur career was limited to 12 bouts and the combined record of his professional opponents was 34-176-5 when they entered the ring.
Most sportsbooks therefore have installed Paul as a slight favorite to win their grudge match. BT Sport Box Office and ESPN+ will offer Paul-Fury as a pay-per-view main event in the United Kingdom (£19.99) and in the United States ($49.99), respectively.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.