Promoter Ben Shalom of Boxxer would like to see Tommy Fury, the brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, step up his level of competition.
Over the course of the last year, Fury has beaten two of top crossover boxers – social media stars Jake Paul and KSI.
Back in February, Fury picked up an eight round split decision over Paul in the Middle East. And then earlier this month, in Manchester, Fury bagged a six round unanimous decision over KSI.
If Shalom had his way, he would attempt to make a fight between Fury and Viddal Riley.
“For me he [Fury] should be fighting Viddal Riley,” Shalom told Sky Sports. “The reason he should be fighting him now is Viddal’s only going to get better and better and better. We can see that already and he will get to world level. If Tommy Fury was ever going to think it might be competitive, get him early, get him whilst he’s early on in his career.
“I know Viddal would love that fight. Realistically Viddal is a serious operator, most fighters won’t want to fight him. It’s a huge fight, and I would suggest if Tommy Fury is looking at the fight, he should be doing it as soon as possible.”
Riley trained KSI for the recent bout with Fury.
With an undefeated record of 10-0 with 6 knockouts, Riley has been calling to face Fury. He captured the English title in his last fight, with a wide decision over Nathan Quarless back in September.
In past interviews, Fury made it clear that Riley was not a “big enough name” to fight him.
Riley understands Fury’s complex position. He made tremendous paydays for his crossover fights, but at the same time he’s vowing to work his way up the ladder to capture a world title.
“If he doesn’t want to fight, just say he doesn’t want to fight. He’s in a sticky position: he’s chosen that side of things, getting paid extremely well. Just say you’re that guy now, say you’re a crossover boxer,” Riley told Sky Sports.
“That’s it, that’s all Tommy has to do. All he has to say is: ‘You know what, I’m a crossover guy now, I don’t really have any interest in the traditional path, I’m not looking to be a traditional pro boxer,’ and I’ll leave him alone. But if you’re going to try and blur the lines between the two, then blur the line over here. He doesn’t have to blur the line here.
“He doesn’t have any pull himself anyway. Jake has the pull. KSI has the pull. Go check the views on any of his fights when he’s fighting in that realm, and then check mine, and I’ve stayed in this realm and, I would say I have more pull than he does.”