Jake Paul and Tommy Fury have shared their first staredown, and they needed to be separated to prevent a brawl from breaking out.
Ahead of the main event of Artur Beterbiev vs. Anthony Yarde at OVO Arena Wembley in London, Paul and Fury had the opportunity to meet face-to-face for the first time, complete with entrances and interviews inside the boxing ring.
Fury stood in the ring shirtless, pacing around the ring while waiting for Paul to enter. When both men were in the ring, they touched foreheads while exchanging words, and then took swipes at each other as they were separated.
Watch video of the faceoff below (via Twitter):
𝑾𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝑾𝑨𝑺 𝑬𝑿𝑷𝑳𝑶𝑺𝑰𝑽𝑬 👀
Jake Paul and Tommy Fury meet in the middle of the ring 🥊@jakepaul 🆚 @TommytntFury. Who you got? 🤔#BeterbievYarde | BT Sport 1 #Boxing #FightNight #JakePaul #TommyFury #PaulFury pic.twitter.com/mJCfmOhCs3
— Boxing on BT Sport 🥊 (@BTSportBoxing) January 28, 2023
A moment after the tensions cooled, both fighters had their opportunity to say their piece about their upcoming boxing match scheduled for Feb. 26 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event airs on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
“This sh*ts been going on way too long,” Fury said. “He will never box again. I’m not 50, I ain’t 40, I ain’t an MMA guy. I’ve been doing this my whole life, and I swear to God, you’re finished come 26th of February.”
“He’s fought taxi drivers, he has no chin, it’s all a joke,” Paul replied. “I’m ending you February 26th, and you already know it. You’re going to crack under pressure. You’re not built for this moment. You’re not built for this moment, you’re an imposter. It’s all a bravado, it’s all fake confidence. You can’t even knock out a taxi driver.”
The camera cut to Tyson Fury, who was laughing at the exchange between the two. Soon, the older boxing brother was brought into the back-and-forth arguments by Paul, after Tommy took shots at Paul’s early entertainment career.
“I was beating better people than you when I was 14 in amateurs,” Fury said. “I will school you. I ain’t an MMA guy. I was beating people better than you when I was 14 while you were messing about on Disney channel. Don’t come here pretending you’re about it when you’re not.”
“He’s going to get knocked out by a Disney star,” Paul replied. “Plain and simple. That’s it, end of story. You’ll see, bro. You’ll see who the real professional boxer is. And all these critics, all of these people say, ‘Fight a real boxer.’ Well, here we go. … Tommy has so much to lose, his family’s going to disown him when I knock him the f*ck out,” Paul said. “Plain and simple, that’s it. Sorry Tyson, I love you, but it’s over for your brother.”
