Written by Tommy Fury reiterated at the weigh-in Saturday that he will end the boxing career of Jake Paul in their pay-per-view bout Sunday in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
Paul took verbal jabs at his rival for declining his all-or-nothing offer and dismissed the Englishman’s bluster as nervous “acting.”
Such was the final encounter between the entertainers-turned-professional boxers, both of whom made the agreed-upon catchweight of 185 pounds for the scheduled eight-round bout. Fury weighed 184.5, Paul 183.6.
Paul weighed in following Fury, after which he marched over to his opponent and the two began their obligatory nose-to-nose stare down.
They were silent only for a few seconds when Pual said, “You didn’t want to sign the contract,” a reference to Paul’s offer from the news conference the previous day: Paul said he would double Fury’s payday if the British reality TV star wins but pay him nothing if he loses.
Fury’s father/trainer accepted the offer immediately in the heat of the moment. However, the fighter and his team evidently had no interest in taking such a risk.
Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) ignored Paul’s comment during the stare down and reiterated what he had said earlier, that he was going to knock out his American counterpart and that his run is over.
“His time is up,” the half-brother of Tyson Fury said after the stare down. “Tomorrow night his time is up. He will no longer be boxing. I’m going to put this man away inside four rounds.”
He went on: “Tomorrow night you’re going to see why our last name is Fury. It’s because we’re the best at fighting that’s ever lived.”
Paul (6-0, 4 KOs) implied that Fury is scared.
“He’s acting on stage, getting all hyped up,” Paul said as some at the weigh-in booed him. “He’s trying to act like his brother. And all you booing, y’all dumb as f— too.
“This is professional boxing. He’s going down. It’s easy, it’s simple. I’m ready, calm, cool, collected. This is what I do. He’s never been in a moment like that.
“He’s shaking,” Paul went on, bobbing back and forth to imitate Fury. “He’s up on stage doing the interview like this. You can see his nerves running through his system. He can’t stop moving.
“I’m chill, I’m a real killer. I don’t gotta do all that acting s—. I’m a real f—ing dog. This is how I do it, from Ohio, from Cleveland. A real dog. None of that fake s—.”
Paul also promised a knockout in the first half of the fight but acknowledged that fans won’t know who will get the last word until Sunday.
“Like the poster says, the talk is over,” he said. “We’ve done all the ya ya ya, the hoopla. It’s time to figure out the truth.”