RESULTS
Jake Paul, Tommy Fury Both Under Contracted Limit For ESPN+ Pay-Per-View Main Event
BY
JAKE DONOVAN
Published Sat Feb 25, 2023, 05:12 AM EST
Jake Paul and Tommy Fury are finally one sleep away from their long brewing grudge match.
The pair of unbeaten prospects both weighed below the 185-pound contract limit for their scheduled eight-round contest. Paul was the lightest weight of his three-plus year pro career as he weighed 183.6 pounds during a closed-door weigh-in under the Middle East Boxing Commission. England’s Fury was 184.5 pounds ahead of their anticipated bout atop an ESPN+ Pay-Per-View event Sunday evening from Diriyah Arena in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
The professionalism was strictly limited to the weigh-in procedure. An intense stare down featured harsh words exchanged along with a shove from Fury before the two were immediately separated.
The fight marks the second straight time that Paul (6-0, 4KOs) will enter the ring at a career low weight. The 26-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio—who now lives in Dorado, Puerto Rico—was 186.5 pounds ahead of his unanimous decision over legendary former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva last October 29 in Glendale, Arizona.
Paul’s heaviest weight as a boxer came in his January 2020 pro debut, when he was 191.8 pounds ahead of his first-round knockout of fellow social media influencer AnEsonGib.
Fury (8-0, 4KOs) is at the second heaviest weight of his four-plus year career. The 23-year-old from Manchester, England was 189 pounds ahead of a June 2021 four-round points win over Jordan Gill in Telford, England. Fury—the younger brother of reigning lineal/WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24KOs)—was a career-lightest 177 ¾ pounds in his last sanctioned fight, a six-round decision win over Daniel Bocianski last April 23 in London.
Weight was a determining factor in Fury’s last fight downgraded from a sanctioned fight to an exhibition match. The unbeaten Brit was 181.5 pounds, well above the contracted limit for his canceled clash with Brooklyn’s Paul Bamba last November 12 in Dubai.
Sunday’s main event marks the third attempt at getting Paul and Fury in the ring. The two were due to meet in December 2021, but Fury withdrew due to illness and injury. A scheduled August 6 clash at Madison Square Garden in New York City never even made it to the announcement press conference, when it was learned that Fury and his family are banned from traveling to the U.S. for various reasons.
Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu and Badou Jack were both within the 200-pound cruiserweight limit for the evening’s lone major title fight.
Makabu (29-2, 25KOs) was 198 ½ pounds in his third attempted defense of the WBC cruiserweight title. The 35-year-old from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo outpointed Michal Cieslak in their January 2020 vacant title fight.
Jack (27-3-3, 16KOs)—a 2008 Olympian for Sweden who lives in Dubai—was just under the limit at 199.8 pounds in his bid to become a three-division titlist. The 39-year-old boxer previously held the WBC super middleweight and WBA light heavyweight titles.
Below are the weights for the rest of the undercard.
Ziyad Almaayouf (1-0, 1KO), Los Angeles via Saudi Arabia, 145.6 pounds vs. Ronnald Martinez (3-1-1, 0KOs), Quito, Ecuador, 142 ½ pounds—4 rounds, junior welterweight
Muhsin Cason (10-0. 7KOs), Baltimore, Maryland, 199.1 pounds vs. Taryel Jafarov (18-5, 17KOs), Qazakh, Azerbaijan, 200 ½ pounds—eight rounds, cruiserweight
Bader Al Samreen (7-0, 6KOs), Dubai via Amman, Jordan, 138 pounds vs. Viorel Simion (23-9, 9KOs), Bucharest, Romania, 138.6 pounds—eight rounds, lightweight
Adam Saleh (0-0-1, 0KOs), Brooklyn, New York, 139.6 pounds vs. Stuart Kellogg (pro debut), Los Angeles, 140.9 pounds—six rounds, junior welterweight
Salman Hamadah (pro debut), Al Qatif, Saudi Arabia, 176.2 pounds vs. Philip Samson, Bangalore, India, 167.6 (pro debut), pounds—4 rounds, light heavyweight
Ragad Al Naimi (pro debut), Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, 131.9 pounds vs. Perpetual Okaijah (pro debut), Accra, Ghana, 125.7 pounds—4 rounds, junior lightweight
Ziad Al Majrashi (pro debut), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 131.7 pounds vs. Philip Quansah (pro debut), Accra, Ghana, 130.1 pounds—4 rounds, junior lightweight
all the American sportsbook are not listing the Paul Fury fight ... tryna parlay a Jack and Fury win
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