Fury to make statement of intent before Paul Saudi fight – EXCLUSIVE

The pair are set to square off on February 26 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia after two previously failed attempts to make it happen in December 2021 and August 2020. Given the past failures, many boxing fans are uncertain as to whether the fight will finally come to fruition third time around.

And those doubts were only raised when Fury no-showed their launch press conference in the Kingdom last week due to ‘training commitments’. However, Abdallah, a former fighter himself, says he understands Fury’s absence and has assured supporters that he will turn up on fight night.

“I don’t believe that Tommy Fury wanted to disrespect anybody in not showing up, I don’t believe that he meant it in spite of anybody,” Abdallah told Express Sport. “I just think that Tommy Fury understands the significance of this fight, bit down on his mouthpiece and said ‘I’m staying in camp, I’ll do all my media stuff in Saudi a couple of days before’, and that’s a fighter prerogative.

But Abdallah admits there were some initial concerns in booking the fight. “My concern was what if we stick our necks out here and we say Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury happens in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and another misfortune happens. The greatest predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour, right?

“That’s recent behaviour and recently we’ve had a couple of hiccups, but I do believe Tommy wants the fight and I do know it’s the biggest payday he’s ever had. So, I think the fight is going to happen, I honestly believe that.

“Listen, Tommy is already booked in, he’s coming here in the next three days. He’s anxious to get here, he wants to get used to the conditions [of Saudi Arabia] and he wants to go to work. I think on February 26, the talk will be over as the fight is dubbed and the truth will come out. Jake Paul takes on the biggest test of his career against Tommy Fury and it happens in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.”