.jpg)
Nothing Jake Paul witnessed from ringside Sunday night made him believe Tommy Fury has any chance to 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 was calmer until Paul challenged him to leave the ring and fight him at ringside.
Tommy Fury’s team predictably restrained him as he tried to go after Paul. The theatrics basically amounted to a promotional 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. The 25-year-old Paul instead knocked out Tyron Woodley in the sixth round of their immediate rematch December 18 at Amale Arena in Tampa and out-pointed another former UFC champion, Anderson Silva, in their eight-rounder October 29 at Desert Diamond Arena in 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.
The crowd began booing Fury during the third round, when Lambert implored him to engage. 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 is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.