Jake Paul has insisted that he will not allow Tommy Fury to ‘weasel out’ of the pair’s upcoming fight, after the Briton was denied entry into the US this week.
YouTube star Paul is 5-0 as a professional boxer and has knocked out each man he has fought, most recently stopping former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in December.
Woodley, whom Paul previously outpointed last August, was stepping in for Fury, who had cited injury and illness upon withdrawing from his scheduled clash with Paul in Tampa.
Fury, who is the half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, is 8-0 as a professional boxer and last competed in April, outpointing Daniel Bocianski on the undercard of Tyson’s knockout of Dillian Whyte at London’s Wembley Stadium.
The younger Fury, 23, and American Paul, 25, are now finally set to meet in the ring, with a bout scheduled for 6 August at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
However, the contest is in doubt after Fury was stopped at Heathrow airport in London on Monday while trying to travel to the US for a pre-fight press conference.
In a video on Instagram, Fury said: “I was told by the homeland security officer that was there that my Esta [Electronic System for Travel Authorisation document] had been denied and I wasn’t able to travel to the USA – for a reason that I apparently know.
“I can stand here and say I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and I have no clue why I’m not allowed to travel to the USA. I’ve been training for a fight this whole time, you know, and that’s all I’ve been doing. I have no clue why they would not allow me to travel, and neither does any of my team or my lawyers. So, now I’m having to go to the embassies and all this sort of stuff, trying to resolve it.”
Paul has now addressed the situation, taking to Twitter to call out Fury.
“Tommy, no matter how hard u try to get out of this fight, I’m going 2 do everything in my power 2 not let u weasel ur way out,” the American wrote.
“My team & my partners have made it clear the steps u need to take 2 solve ur latest excuse. Take them or admit ur a scared little b***h.”
Unified women’s featherweight champion Amanda Serrano is set to fight on the undercard of Paul vs Fury.
It is unclear what will happen to the event if Fury is unable to resolve his travel issues in time for his main event against the YouTuber.