Paul vs Fury: Was There Really A Winner In Saudi?

Paul vs Fury: Was There Really A Winner In Saudi

It was what it was. It was in truth, all it could be. You can’t blame either fighter or the promoters, they exploited a gullible audience that craves and demands even their content with little or no substance.

Tommy Fury and Jake Paul are in different ways, boxing novices. And they fought as such. It wasn’t pretty or particularly entertaining. It was 8 rounds of boxing akin to what you would see on the white-collar circuit. Harsh maybe, but also very close to the truth. Too close. The fight and how it all unfolded was almost certainly the worst-case scenario for all concerned. Both would have wanted a definitive highlight reel knockout on their resume. But the fight dragged on until the final bell chimed to save the fighters and their tiring audience further punishment. It was 24 minutes that highlighted the extreme limitations of both fighters. Both now know the truth.

Neither Fury nor Paul will get anywhere close to world-class. Talk beforehand of the YouTube star Paul eventually becoming a world champion and fighting the likes of Canelo Alvarez was always fanciful, stupid even and also incredibly dangerous. And hopefully, even he can see that now. If not, the ‘Problem Child’ really does have a problem.

Fury will be ridiculed for saying he has created a legacy now for himself on the strength of squeaking past Paul. But that might be as good as it gets for him. Fury won but didn’t look especially good in doing so. He beat someone with the basic fundamentals of a professional boxer, but not much else, and he still didn’t impress and only claimed victory by way of a split decision and having to climb off the canvas in the final round. Fury scraped home against an opponent who offered very little. Fury won. But did he really? Paul has a legitimate excuse for his limitations inside a boxing ring, Fury has none. Not everything can be hidden or excused by the novice label.

Paul if he is to continue with his hobby, would be better returning to his old stomping ground and looking at the likes of Nate Diaz or KSI for future opponents. Any half-decent professional boxer will beat him, or even less than half-decent fighters. But is Fury destined for that type of future also? Have we seen the level that Tommy Fury is at now? He has a family pedigree similar to that of a potential Derby-winning racehorse and has the look of the ultimate designer boxer. But his form so far is light years away from an Epsom racecourse. And will he seriously return to boxing proper and fight for small change?

Somehow, the win in Saudi Arabia saw Fury rise 200 places on the Boxrec rankings system and earned him a top 40 ranking with the WBC. Boxing and credibility don’t belong on the same page. Did they ever? They say God moves in mysterious ways. Boxing does it better. Much better.

Paul does have some semblance of talent, but you can’t just climb off a YouTube chair and expect to compete in the upper echelons of professional boxing. You just can’t. Fury has done him a favour. He now needs to embrace humility and reality. Paul has done well to a point, but he is in a world he doesn’t really belong. Enough is enough.

I don’t begrudge either fighter for the millions that they would have earned in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night. They sold what they had, and people bought it. Other professional fighters will complain about the attention that Paul and Fury received, and the multi-million purses both got, but too many of them sit in solitude and bitterness and make little or no attempt to sell themselves. Certain fighters and their respective managers should be contacting media outlets for interviews, not the other way around. Paul and Fury did their job. Others should learn from them.

Nobody can really complain about what their hard-earned money bought them. Nobody needed to read the small print and no benefit of hindsight was needed here. It was two willing if lowly ranked professional fighters doing the best that they possibly could. And that is what was served up. Nobody can fault the effort Paul and Fury put in either inside or outside of the ring. As I said, it was what it was.

Paul will activate his rematch clause, and while there are already claims that the return fight will be bigger and even more lucrative, but how can it be. There was some curiosity about the first fight, but that has gone now. We have already seen it, will as many people want to see it again? I have my doubts. They got away with it once, I’m not so sure they will again. Where there once was intrigue, we now have all the answers we need. The novelty of it has now left town. Or so we hope.