John Fury, father of both Tyson and Tommy, has given his opinion on Jake Paul’s final-round knockdown over his son.
Tommy Fury became the first man to defeat Jake Paul in the ring, ending the American’s six-fight unbeaten run since turning professional. The Brit claimed the split-decision victory, although many fans believed that he had won by a wider margin, even after being knocked down and deducted a point.
Fury seemed to be in control for the vast majority of the fight, using his ring experience to dictate the style and tempo of the fight, until he was dropped for the first time in his career in the final round.
Tommy in several post fight interviews said it shouldn’t have been called a knockdown and was simply a slip. Speaking to FightHype, he said:
“That was a genuine slip, there would be no excuses from my part, if I got knocked down I’d say I got knocked down, if I lost the fight, I’d say I lost the fight.
But that was no knockdown, you could see when I got up I was like ‘no way!’.”
Whilst the knockdown was disputed by the 23-year-old, his father has admitted that referee, Hector Afu, made the correct the decision, in an interview with Boxing King Media.
“It was a stumble, but a jab caused the stumble, so the referee was right. It was a jab and it caused him to be off-balance, but I looked at him [Tommy], he nodded back, I knew he was OK. He was OK, I said to ‘keep calm and watch what is coming your way’.”
“He could have made things a lot easier, but he was carrying the weight of the world [on your shoulders], the amount of pressure, the new baby, his name, his whole career was on the line. So, the kid stepped up to the plate and he done it.”
Jake Paul has insisted that he will activate his rematch clause as he attempts to avenge the first defeat of his short career. However, Matchroom promoter, Eddie Hearn, has suggested that he should avoid a fight with Fury and fight KSI instead.