Tommy Fury has backed up his father’s call for Jake Paul to double his purse despite the pair not signing a contract to confirm the terms.
Fury beat Paul over eight rounds in Saudi Arabia to claim supremacy in a catchweight contest of two big names with novice skills. It was the American’s first defeat since his brash entry into the sport of boxing, and something he was very confident wouldn’t happen.
So confident, in fact, that he offered to double Fury’s purse if he won in the pre-fight presser, a bet that they shook on. Paul provided a contract to solidify the deal – as Fury asked for – but it was never signed.
Tommy’s trainer and father, John, is calling for Paul to pay up, claiming a handshake is just as good and that he can’t read contracts, despite clearly requesting one at the time of the bet.
The fighter has now joined in on the request for the cash, telling Good Morning Britain his family is ‘old-fashioned.’
“I mean at the end of the day we [were] live on television and we shook hands. Take that as how you want to take it. We’re old fashioned guys, so a handshake, it means everything to us but let’s see if he honours it or not.”
“It’s all fun and games at the press conference, but, at the end of the day, we did shake hands and me, my whole family, we are old fashioned people, so a handshake is as good as a contract to us. Let’s see if Jake Paul is gonna answer it.”
Paul’s manager and business partner, Nakisa Bidarian, has hinted at having the elder Fury on camera declining the bet in some way, and it looks like they have no plans to pay the extra.
The pair are expected to fight again later this year, with Paul ready to activate his contractual rematch clause.