A fight between Jake Paul and Tommy Fury is ‘90 per cent done’, according to the YouTube star’s coach.
Paul and Fury, half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson, were scheduled to box one another in December, but Fury withdrew while citing injury and illness.
Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley stepped in for the Briton and lost to Paul for the second time in four months. The YouTuber outpointed Woodley in August then knocked him out in December to move to 5-0 as a professional boxer and mantain his record of stopping every man he has fought.
Paul, 25, recently announced that he will return to the ring on 6 August, though an opponent has not yet been named.
Rumours circulated that Fury, 23, could be the fighter in question, and his father John said last week that the bout was in the works.
Now Paul’s coach Danny Smith has confirmed the news, telling Vegas Insider: “I'd probably say that we're around 90 per cent done, but we're just waiting on their end.
“We're good on our end. Whatever particulars that need to be worked out their end, that’s what we're waiting on.
“I think [Fury is the right opponent], without question, and I like it because Tommy is a very fast-foot guy, very fast hands, and he moves around and understands distance and range.
“He boxes fairly well. It’s going to be really, really good. He’s not a huge puncher, but decent – with the right hand he is pretty decent. I think that it’s a really, really good step-up for both guys to be honest with you.
“The reason I’m picking Jake to beat Tommy is because Jake has more of a dog mentality, [he’s] the bigger puncher, and he's willing to trade.”
Fury is 8-0 (4 knockouts) as a pro, having most recently outpointed Daniel Bocianski in April on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s WBC title defence against Dillian Whyte.
Tyson Fury knocked out Whyte at Wembley Stadium in front of 94,000 fans, before claiming that he would retire from professional boxing.
