The next phase in the Jake Paul boxing experiment will commence this Sunday night when he finally faces Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia. The pair were originally scheduled to clash in December 2021, but Fury pulled out due to injury. They have now been engaged in a back-and-forth for upwards of two years—trading endless messages on social media, promising to end each other’s careers, and taking their shirts off whenever they come face-to-face.
‼️ Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury face-off ahead of their fight this weekend… pic.twitter.com/bV1ObhOh47
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) February 23, 2023
Jake Paul has become a huge figure in the boxing world—having been the Grim Reaper for retired MMA fighters since his knockout of Ben Askren in 2021. A brutal stoppage of Tyron Woodley brought worldwide attention to his journey, and a win over the legendary Anderson Silva surprised combat sports fans further. Paul now seeks to silence those who have tirelessly claimed he would lose to a “real boxer” with a decisive showing against reality TV star Tommy Fury, who is also a boxer.
Dear Tommy… pic.twitter.com/sKTIbg1f81
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 22, 2023
So far in his career, Tommy Fury has shown levels of can-dropping unseen since Supermarket Sweep. His opponents have a combined record of 24 wins, and 178 losses. And he didn’t even win the reality TV show he was on. However, the padding in his record isn’t necessarily reflective of his abilities. But he only managed to get finishes in half of those fights. Regardless—it will answer the question of whether Jake is as good as a “real boxer”, because all “real boxers” have the same padding on their records.
Jake Paul is undeniably a powerful puncher. He has put most of his opponents to sleep, and knocked everyone else down (except Deji). With so much vitriol in this fight, and the desire to prove himself as a “real boxer”, Jake Paul will structure his gameplan around landing the chloroform-laced right hand that had Tyron Woodley showing up for a test he forgot to study for. Tommy Fury is decently quick, and very long—so there’s a few steps Jake has to take in order to get it done.
Tommy Fury’s best attribute is his jab. He will throw it on its own; he will throw it in bunches, he will follow it up with straights and body punches. Fury has a sizable eighty inch reach, which is longer than that of the average heavyweight—and he takes advantage of it with his jab. Jake has to deal with this problem if he is to have any hope of winning. Fortunately for Jake, he’s shown the ability to do this in the past.
Jake Paul’s highlight reel is almost exclusively jab counters. Every shot he landed on Ben Askren came over the top of Askren’s jab, if you can call what Askren was doing a “jab”. He landed right hand counters against Anderson Silva throughout their bout, and Nate Robinson couldn’t get enough of throwing his lead hand out while running forward—resulting in multiple knockdowns and an early bedtime when Jake stepped back and came over the top. Granted Robinson and Askren are still a fair few hours on the bag away from being Sonny Liston, but it’s still promising that Jake Paul is at least aware of how to use an opponent’s jab to land his best punch.
🥊 Tommy Fury knocks out Genadij Krajevskij to extend his unbeaten record to 4-0.
👍 Impressed, @Tyson_Fury?pic.twitter.com/yANkZSi57k
— Sporting Life Racing (@SportingLife) November 13, 2020
Further aid for Jake Paul’s gameplan comes from Fury’s consistently woeful defense. Despite his resume consisting of three garbage men, two taxi drivers, a butcher, a grade school teacher, and your dad—Tommy Fury still gets hit clean in every fight he’s in. This is because his two primary forms of defense, frames and opportunistic straight counters, don’t really work for him.
Fury will frame and move to his left when his opponents step in, and when he himself is leaving range. The only time he defends differently is when he is already against the ropes. If the incoming attack is wide—a hook, or anything looping—Fury will either throw his right hand straight, or throw an uppercut if the range is right. He will also occasionally close the distance himself and clinch, typically after failing to roll away. Jake Paul will be dreaming Fury keeps this defense for their match.
In his first professional fight, Jake Paul used a slapping lead left hook to herd AnEsonGib towards his power side. This shot will be crucial against Tommy Fury as Jake’s best chance to land his overhand right will be when Fury frames away. If Paul can get Fury moving with such a non-committal punch as that, he will land his bomb at some point. Jake isn’t a huge proponent for handbagging, and stays disciplined for the most part, so it’s hard to imagine him going wild and getting put down with an uppercut when Fury has his back in the corner.
Tommy Fury’s style has been consistent since his debut. The weaknesses he has shown so far play into Jake’s hands, and it seems unlikely he will be fighting much differently on Sunday night. But maybe he doesn’t have to. Tommy Fury has a lifetime of training, and won’t ever let us forget his last name. This is a heated contest—far more than either man has ever experienced. Perhaps the discussion around this fight should be less about skills and ability, and more about which man can walk through the fire.
Another angle on that wild Jake Paul KO of Tyron Woodley. Paul knocks every drop of sweat off Woodley's head goddamn #PaulWoodley2 pic.twitter.com/V59kxV1Ei5
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) December 19, 2021
