Former two-weight world champion David Haye believes that one boxing newbie will upset the odds when he takes on the more well-schooled fighter in their upcoming fight in October.
There have been several high-profile crossover fights in recent years, starting with Floyd Mayweather’s shut out of MMA star Conor McGregor in 2017, then going on to include several fights with YouTuber turned novice boxer Jake Paul.
One of them came against Tommy Fury, half-brother of the current WBC champion Tyson Fury, who himself is fighting against former MMA champion Francis Ngannou in October.
Next up, Tommy Fury takes on rapper turned Misfits fighter KSI. Fury has the better boxing background having had eight professional bouts against legitimate fighting opponents before the win over Jake Paul, though KSI himself has now had six crossover contests.
Speaking to The Mirror, Haye thinks he has seen enough from KSI to trouble Fury.
“I think KSI will beat Tommy. I think Tommy will underestimate him, he will believe as he said throughout the whole campaign that he is not a real boxer but I think he’s better than he’s ever been before.”
Haye went on to predict an upset and say KSI will show more than he has before.
“I actually think the best of JJ still has yet to be seen, the last fight with the elbow that knocked out Joe Fournier there’s not much you can take from that fight but I’ve been assured there’s plenty more to come and it will be a massive, massive upset for boxing.
He’s going to embarrass a hell of a lot of people. Tommy’s a massive favourite and people think he’s the real fighter whose big brother is the heavyweight champ and he’s doing it since he was a kid. He comes from a fighting family so for him to lose to someone considered a YouTuber in these fights that a lot of people don’t give much credibility to, it will be pretty hard for him to bounce back.”