Tommy Fury skips Jake Paul face-off to return to UK weeks out from fight

Love Island star Fury was forced to return to England due to a “family emergency” and skipped his pre-fight launch press conference for his bout with YouTube star Paul

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Jake Paul beats former UFC champion Tyron Woodley

Tommy Fury has returned to the United Kingdom just weeks out from his fight with Jake Paul, skipping the pair’s launch press conference.

The Love Island star was set to face off with the YouTuber for the first time since August, and is expected to be back soon, but cited a “family emergency” for missing the press conference.

Paul claimed that it was an issue with his mother Chantal, but no official reason has been confirmed.

Fury will headline his first pay-per-view event in Florida next month against YouTube star Paul, with the pair having gone back-and-forth on social media over the last year.

They fought on the same card in August, when Fury beat Paul’s sparring partner Anthony Taylor by unanimous decision, while Paul defeated former UFC champion Tyron Woodley by split decision.

Fury and Paul are set to have another press conference on Monday in Florida to promote their ticket sales’ launch, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will be back in time.

Paul admitted that he was “upset” by his rival’s absence, although he claimed he understood why Fury wasn’t at the event.

“I’m upset that Tommy’s not here,” he said.

“I know that he’s taking care of his mother, and I respect that as a man, I hope she’s ok and the family are doing well.”

The YouTube star was in attendance, as well as Fury’s new coach SugarHill Steward, who guided his brother Tyson to the world heavyweight title in February 2020 against Deontay Wilder, as well as his first defence last month.

“I’m going to primarily work on his footwork and his co-ordination,” Steward said.

“Getting him more familiar with certain moves that you need in boxing to compete at a higher level than he fought at.

“I didn’t watch [his last fight], but I heard it wasn’t a good look from the family, maybe they were over-critical about it and they’re probably right.

“This is a lot different to watching on TV and watching your big brother, but this is a learning process.”

Fury has primarily fought journeymen in his career, while Paul has mostly taken on stars from other sports, so it is a major step-up for both men.

The bout will be shown on BT Sport Box Office in the UK and Showtime PPV in the United States, and will feature a number of strange match-ups on the undercard.

Are you excited for Tommy Fury vs Jake Paul? Let us know in the comments section!

Multiple-weight world champion Amanda Serrano will fight an as-yet unnamed opponent in the co-main event as she prepares to take on Katie Taylor next year.

Taylor will have defended her world titles against a mandatory challenger in Liverpool, with the super-fight against Serrano likely to take place at Madison Square Garden early next year.

UFC fighter brothers Nick and Nate Diaz will be in attendance to support their temmate Chris Avila as he takes on Anthony Taylor in a rematch of their 2020 Bellator bout.

Taylor is a sparring partner of Paul’s, and the bout acts as a “Team Paul vs Team Diaz” fight as the brothers look to move into boxing once they work out their UFC contracts.

And it has been reported that Paul and Fury won’t be the only celebrities on the card, with basketball star Deron Williams set to make his boxing debut, with former NFL player Frank Gore a possible opponent.