Eddie Hearn predicts ‘unbelievably limited’ Tommy Fury will get knocked out by Jake Paul
Matchroom Boxing manager Eddie Hearn may not get along with Jake Paul right now, but he chooses “The Problem Child” over Tommy Fury.
On Wednesday, The MMA Hour, Hearn said Fury, the half-brother of heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury, is “incredibly limited” and will crack under the pressure of Paul’s mental warfare.
“I mean no disrespect when I say cheated, but [Paul] is deceived to such an extent that when he gets in the ring he thinks he has that ability,” Hearn said of the Feb. 24 boxing match. “And that’s important, because mindset is everything in the fighting game, and I know you have to have ability, but mentally he’s pretty tough.
“Like, he genuinely thinks he’s a world-class fighter, and that’s part of the battle sometimes in fights. And mentally, he’ll break Tommy Fury.
Hearn still doesn’t think about the world of Paul’s skills, and the two are still embroiled in a lawsuit stemming from Paul’s accusation of fixing Matchroom Boxing fights. That hasn’t stopped the two from being in business to co-promote a title fight on Saturday between champion Amanda Serrano, who is promoted by Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, and Matchroom’s Erika Cruz. If Serrano is successful, she could face undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor in Dublin this fall.
“We don’t let our relationship… get in the way of opportunities for fighters, and we’d be fools if we did, and we certainly wouldn’t be doing the right job for our clients,” Hearn explained. “In the end, Jake said things he shouldn’t have said, he refused to apologize, and that’s how I chose to handle it, because the other option is just to go and knock him out, which is not our way of doing business, and we have a reputation in the sport that spans 40 years.
As for the YouTuber turned boxer’s ceiling in the sport, the promoter still thinks he’s a far cry from Canelo Alvarez, the star Paul has confidently said he’ll beat. But Hearn also credits Paul for avoiding another UFC veteran, regardless of the young Fury’s shortcomings inside and outside the ring.
“Tommy Fury is incredibly limited, isn’t it? But he’s a fighter,” Hearn said. “He’s a boxer. So all the criticism about Jake is, ‘You’ve never fought a boxer.’ He’s about to – not a very good one, but still a boxer.
“For Tommy Fury, it’s just a little embarrassing. Like, if he were to lose. It’s embarrassing, period, to lose to Jake – that’s the reality for a boxer. I mean, I would be embarrassed if I lost to Jake Paul, and I would.
“But still, he’s not very good, but that’s where we always have our argument, because he honestly thinks he could fight Canelo Alvarez and win. That’s what we fought for, but in the end you have to pull yourself together.
The Paul vs. Fury match fell apart twice before being booked for February 26 at Diriyah Arena, Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. Paul and Fury got physical in the ring after last Saturday’s Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde event in London.
The scene was a stark contrast to earlier hours, when Paul was nice to Tyson Fury backstage. Hearn said when it comes to mental warfare, the gap between the heavyweight boxing champion and Paul is no contest.
“It’s not his world,” Hearn said. “A fighter, if someone did that and they felt threatened, they would stand up, and then they would get on it. So the way Jake talks personally about things like the Tommy Fury fight, you have to be careful, not necessarily with Tommy Fury, but there’s a fine line in this world between something going wrong.
“But I think he’s going to play with Tommy mentally, and I think, I just think by the time they get in the ring, if they get in the ring, I think Tommy will be defeated before the fight even does not take place. And I think Jake Paul will win by knockout.