Tommy Fury will return on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather's exhibition bout with YouTube star Deji in Dubai, but talks broke down early for a fight with Tyron Woodley.
Mirror Fighting understands that Fury is likely to face little-known 5-2 New Yorker Paul Bamba, as was first reported by Boxing Scene, after turning down a bout with UFC legend Woodley. The former Love Island star, who is 8-0 as a professional boxer, was initially offered to face the 0-2 Woodley, whose two losses came against his rival Jake Paul last year.
Sources have indicated that Fury was never particularly close to fighting Woodley, and turned him down relatively early in the discussions. They then offered him Harley Benn, Geordie Shore star-turned-boxer Aaron Chalmers, British MMA icon Paul Daley and a host of other better-known names than Bamba.
He had been tapped early to take the co-main event slot, given his crossover appeal between the worlds of legitimate professional boxing and celebrity bouts. But sources say that he was never keen to face Woodley despite multiple efforts and by the time news leaked earlier this month that the pair were in negotiations, those talks were already long finished.
On September 16, Woodley himself tweeted that he would be fighting Fury in November, before facing YouTube star KSI in January. He told fans "if these fights don't happen you guys know who to troll," although at that stage it was already well-known to those running the event that the fight wouldn't be taking place.
Harley Benn then made his offer public, telling fans that he had accepted a fight with Fury on two separate occasions, most recently for Dubai. "Hope you're all having a nice Sunday evening," Benn wrote in an Instagram story to his 13,400+ followers. "Just a quick message to say Tommy Fury, you are a confirmed wasteman.
"That's the second time I've accepted putting on a stone-and-a-half to fight you (me going up to light-heavyweight) and the second time you've changed your mind and got scared. But we move, a good undefeated prospect confirmed for Dubai November 13."
Ultimately, the two sides settled on Bamba, who is best known as a celebrity fitness trainer in New York and holds a 5-2 record with his wins amassed in Mexico and Colombia. The Puerto Rican-born American won his last fight earlier this month with a second round knockout to bounce back from an August loss in his American debut to the 1-4 Derrick Vann.
Are you looking forward to Tommy Fury's return to the ring? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Fury has still got his sights set on a bout with Jake Paul despite their two cancellations over the past 12 months, and could set it up again with a solid performance against the American. The pair went back-and-forth on a FaceTime call facilitated by unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano while she was in Manchester last week, with Paul saying he would still fight Fury.
After joking about why Paul wasn't in attendance for the fight and whether or not Fury was dating Serrano, the YouTuber-turned-boxer told his long-time rival "Let's make the fight happen," to which he responded "I'll see you soon".
Fury was due to fight Paul in August after his return from injury against Daniel Bocianski on his brother Tyson's Wembley Stadium undercard. But he was unable to travel to New York for the pre-fight press conference and was forced out of the contest due to the travel issue.
He and girlfriend Molly Mae Hague recently announced that they are expecting their first child together three years after meeting during the 2019 season of Love Island. The pair were fan favourites on the show and finished runners-up to Amber Gill and Olympic rugby player Greg O'Shea, but are the only couple from their season to have stuck together since.
