Tommy Fury has referenced a 2016 Tony Bellew fight to insult his next opponent, Jake Paul.
Fury will finally fight the American after two bouts having fallen through in the past, and he’s as confident as ever that he’ll beat him convincingly.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, the Manchester-based fighter highlighted Paul’s trainer, BJ Flores, and his defeat to Bellew. He went on to say that he fancied his own chancers against the American fighter-turned-coach.
“He’s got BJ Flores in his corner who Tony Bellew knocked out in three rounds. I’d fancy my chances against BJ Flores. I think I would knock him out in three rounds as well.”
“At the end of the day let him do what he wants, he could have Angelo Dundee in his corner on the 26th, and he wouldn’t be beating me.”
Bellew defended his WBC cruiserweight title against Flores in 2016, knocking him out in, as Fury said, the third round. The Liverpool fighter went on to beat David Haye twice before losing to Oleksandr Usyk and hanging up the gloves for good.
Flores had three more fights himself, moving up to heavyweight and racking up two wins before being stopped by Trevor Bryan. He has been in Paul’s corner since the young star moved into professional fighting.
Fury believes the trainer connection is one part of a larger problem for Paul – namely that he’s using money to improve rather than gaining experience.
“You know, all this money that he has around him, he thinks he can just throw it out to people and it’s going to make him better, but it’s really not.
“The only way you can get better in this game is by getting in there with proper men and fighting. He’s not going to get better by having easy fights with MMA guys and that’s just what it is.”
“I’m basically fighting a white collar fighter, basically, and I just can’t wait.”
The pair face off in Saudi Arabia on Sunday February 26. Opposite Paul and Flores in Tommy’s corner will be his father, John, and half-brother, Tyson.