Tyson Fury has predicted that his brother Tommy Fury will stop Jake Paul within six rounds when the pair finally clash in Saudi Arabia on February 26.
Fury was ringside on Saturday, as his brother and Paul faced off in the ring and traded words ahead of their highly-anticipated dust-up, which has fallen through twice before.
The WBC heavyweight world champion insists Tommy, who last fought in April on the undercard of his victory over Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium, will inflict a first loss on Paul’s professional record in emphatic fashion.
“I think Tommy knocks him out inside six rounds,” Fury told Sky Sports.
“Tommy hits and hurts me [in sparring] and I’m 20st and 6ft 9” and heavyweight champion of the world.
“I know when he hits Jake. I dont want to say too much, because I don’t want the fight to fall through, but he hits really hard.
“When Tommy wins he can fight KSI or Jake Paul or whoever, whoever they want to fight.
“Whether they can fight in more celebrity boxing like this and Jake Paul, he could lose to Tommy three times in a row and still fight some MMA guy or another boxer and make plenty of money out of it.”
Paul addressed the assembled media at a press conference at the OVO Arena in Wembley on Saturday following the conclusion of Artur Beterbiev’s eighth round stoppage win over Anthony Yarde, but was critical of his rival who was not present.
‘The Problem Child’, who is undefeated in his first six professional bouts, will fight a recognised professional boxer for the first time in his career in Riyadh, with his last fight a unanimous decision win over former UFC star, Anderson Silva in October.
‘The Gypsy King’ admits Tommy, 23, cannot afford to underestimate the American YouTube sensation.
“He’s got to take it really seriously,” the 34-year-old added.
“He can’t just go to the ice cream parlour and not train.
“He’s got to really focus and have the right sparring and everything and then he’s got to do the job when he’s in there, because it’s not just the opponent.
“If you take the opponent out of the equation, there’s big pressure and it’s in a big stadium and they’re top of the bill and all that sort of stuff.
“The thrills and spills of big time boxing sometimes get to them.
“So it’s going to be interesting to see if Tommy can handle that pressure which I know he can, but it’s going to be interesting to see him do it in front of the world.”
