Jake Paul is making a final push to fight Tommy Fury, offering his rival a hometown bout in Manchester next month that would mark the third time that the pair will attempt to face each other.
Paul has twice tabled deals which his rival, the brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, has signed previously - but both bouts were cancelled when the Brit pulled out. And Mirror Fighting understands that the duo are close to signing for another meeting, with social media news outlet The Bread Batch first reporting that they will fight on February 25 in the Middle East.
However, Paul has gone a step further, telling Mirror Fighting that he would be willing to go to Fury's hometown of Manchester six weeks from tomorrow if the Brit will finally put pen to paper on a deal. The social media star is desperate to settle the pair's feud, and there now appears to be multiple avenues for them to do so next month.
"I have done everything in my power to make the fight happen against this 8-0 boxer, including offering to go to Manchester for February 18 in partnership with Frank and George Warren," Paul told Mirror Fighting today. "I'm looking at any other alternative to make this fight work."
Paul yesterday cheekily teased that Fury had been offered a whopping $2.5million to finally make the grudge fight happen in response to a tweet from YouTuber Wade Plemons. The influencer boxing analyst had reported that Fury was offered the massive sum, to which Paul 'refused' to confirm the number, while calling it an "accurate statement".
"I spoke to a source with DIRECT knowledge on the Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury fight talks this morning," Plemons wrote on Twitter yesterday. "And they CONFIRMED that Tommy has now been offered 2.5 MILLION DOLLARS to fight Jake. $500,000 more than the first offer."
Paul responded by saying that he "Cannot confirm nor deny this accurate statement," before adding that "What I can confirm is Tommy Fury is never going to see the kind of money he is being offered to step in the ring with me. And yet he’s still on the run." He also used the hashtag "boxer".
The YouTube star's biggest criticism from his detractors has been that he has yet to face a legitimate boxer in his six professional fights to date. He most recently defeated 3-1 Anderson Silva, who had beaten former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in his comeback a year prior, but was 47-years-old and spent his prime years over a decade prior in the UFC.
Who do you think wins when they finally fight; Jake Paul or Tommy Fury? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Paul has defeated three MMA world champions, knocking out both Bellator and ONE FC champion Ben Askren and ex-UFC title holders Silva and Tyron Woodley. He started his career facing celebrities such as YouTuber AnEsonGib and basketball star Nate Robinson, but now must face a real boxer, which he hopes to accomplish in Fury.
The Brit is best known for his stint on Love Island, where he met model girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague and with whom he is expecting a child this year. But he is also an undefeated boxer, coming from the famous Fury family that includes Tyson and his cousin Hughie who is a top heavyweight. His dad is ex-fighter John Fury, who is a well-known character in the boxing world.
Fury and Paul's feud started in the beginning of 2021, almost two years ago, when the pair began to go back-and-forth on social media. They first came head-to-head when the Brit appeared on the undercard of Paul's first fight with Tyron Woodley, and have since agreed to fight twice, with both being cancelled due to issues on Fury's end.
The first time, in December of 2021, the pair were due to square off in Florida but Fury picked up a rib injury in training. The following August, they booked to fight in Madison Square Garden but a travel issue prevented the Brit from attending. When talks stalled for next month's fight, Paul teased a bout with Mike Perry, his former sparring partner and and ex-UFC fighter who is 3-0 as a bare-knuckle boxer
