Instagram followers: 3.4million
Twitter followers: 232,500
TikTok likes: 257,400
The above is a quick look into the social media following of Tommy Fury.
The former Love Island star has all the tools at his disposal to make millions of pounds without ever lacing up a pair of boxing gloves again, so it is testament to his professionalism that he remains as dedicated to the sport as ever. In a week where one of the greatest fighters to step into a ring is days away from taking on a YouTuber without a win to boast of, Fury is preparing for his sixth professional bout against an unknown quantity in Jordan Grant.
If Floyd Mayweather, who calls himself “The Best Ever” can get away with fighting Logan Paul in an exhibition bout, why doesn’t Fury go down the same route and fight his brother, Jake?
“TNT” has only recently turned 22, but has a mature head on those broad shoulders, realising that time is on his side. After the announcement of his fight against 2-0 Grant, Tyson Fury’s younger brother faced questions on Jake Paul, the YouTube star who has been calling out his name for months.
“If he gets in the ring with me, it’ll be dangerous,” Fury assured the assembled media. “Calling my name is the wrong move for him. Whenever that fight happens, it happens. Until then, he doesn’t come into my mind. Saturday night, I’ve got a job to do.”
Despite his tender years, Fury understands the current climate and refuses to rule out a future fight with “The Problem Child”.
“It’s easy money. People ask ‘why are you getting involved with him?’ It’s easy money. Why is Floyd Mayweather, one of the best to ever do it, fighting his brother Logan? It’s easy money.
“Jake Paul is what he is. He’s a smart man, he’s earned a lot of money in his career. If the fight comes, it comes, and I’ll take it with both hands.”
Until then, however, the 5-0 star is going about his business exactly how he should for a relative novice at this stage in his career. His five opponents to date have a combined 12 victories from 191 bouts, with three of his rivals to date without a single win on their record.
Many boxing fans will sit behind their phones and laptops and turn their noses up at that record, oblivious to the fact that the first five opponents that older brother Tyson faced had a combined 60 defeats to boast of. Six years later, he would unify the heavyweight division by defeating Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf. Nobody mentions the losing record of Tyson’s early opponents now, do they?
Speaking with The Sportsman in October 2020, Fury himself played down any talk that he should be fighting at a higher level than he is.
“You look at every great champion and great fighter there has ever been, [Floyd] Mayweather, Mike Tyson, anybody. At the start of their career, they have always had learning fights.
“The first ten fights of your career should be the learning stage, you are getting in the ring, you are practising the stuff that you do in the gym and you are getting your confidence up. After ten fights, it's like, right, step it up. I’m just going to learn my trade and when I need to step up, I will step up.”
Another young boxer on the BT Sport roster is Daniel Dubois, who after 15 fights was pitted against Joe Joyce last November. Joyce stopped Dubois after the 23-year-old suffered a fractured eye socket, and “Dynamite” now headlines the card that Fury features on when he takes on Bogdan Dinu in Telford this weekend. Dubois arguably took on that fight against Joyce too soon, and Fury’s approach is a refreshing one for a young man surrounded by hype.
In that same interview with The Sportsman, he added, “I’ve not achieved one thing that is worth talking about. Anybody can sit in the sun for two months and chat up girls can’t they? It takes no great talent to do that.
“It takes an awful lot of talent to be a champion in boxing and not many men can do that, so if I could do that and go down in history, then I’ve accomplished something. Then I can speak about what I’ve done.”
Given his temperament and the family that he has been born into, you wouldn’t bet against him doing just that – when the time is right.
