The deadline for Jake Paul 's back-up fighter to replace Tommy Fury in their grudge fight later this month has now passed.
Paul is scheduled to face Fury on February 26 in Saudi Arabia, with YouTuber-turned-boxer having ex-UFC fighter Mike Perry on call to replace Fury if the Brit pulls out. Love Island star Fury has pulled out of two previous meetings against Paul, first withdrawing in December 2021 and also pulling out of their rescheduled meeting last June.
Perry's bareknuckle-boxing promoter David Feldman has now revealed the deadline for his fighter to replace Fury has passed, telling Mirror Fighting: " He is the back-up fighter but I don’t think it’s going to happen. We were supposed to know by the end of Monday (13th) as that was the deadline. I’m hoping it doesn’t happen, but for Mike I am hoping it does happen as he will grab a very nice payday and get a lot of exposure.
Who wins on February 26 - Jake Paul or Tommy Fury? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"We have something planned for him in BKFC as we are announcing a big opponent for him on April 29. Does he beat Jake Paul though? I don't know, Jake Paul is actually a pretty decent boxer but Mike Perry has got something inside of him that I've never seen before, he's a different type of animal. I don't think there's anyone you can put in front of Mike Perry that's going to blow him out."
Perry fought 15 times for the UFC but parted ways with the promotion after winning just one of his last five fights. 'Platinum' has since crossed over to bare-knuckle boxing where he is unbeaten in the ring. Feldman was open to pardoning Perry from his contractual duties with BKFC for a potential fight with Paul as he believed it was good exposure for his fighter and the promotion.
"I was open to it because of the notoriety that Mike Perry was going to get and BKFC, because they also have to do some branding for BKFC for this to have happened. If Perry does step up, BKFC gets branded to fans that haven't watched it yet so it's an opportunity for us too," Feldman added.
"I thought it was an opportunity for him to make a good payday, he gets paid very well with us so it's not much more than that. It's also an opportunity to expand the growth of our promotion. At the end of the day it looks like Tommy Fury is going to show up and I think he's going to put on a hell of a fight."
