Tommy Fury told “gig was up” after needing his “hand held” in Jake Paul build-up

MMA analyst Chael Sonenn has slammed Fury for having his “hand held” by brother Tyson and father John in the lead-up to his now scratched fight with Paul

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Tommy Fury addresses pulling out of Jake Paul fight

Tommy Fury has been criticised by MMA analyst Chael Sonnen for needing his “hand held” during the build-up to his now cancelled fight with Jake Paul.

YouTube star Paul was scheduled to fellow celebrity Fury on December 18, but the Brit withdrew from the fight on Monday citing a bacterial infection and broken rib.

Paul and Fury engaged in lots of pre-fight trash talk with Fury’s father John and heavyweight champion brother Tyson accompanying him at the pre-fight press conference.

Tommy was relatively quiet on the microphone with his father capturing the headlines after stating his son would “f***” Paul’s girlfriend “like a dog” after the fight.

And Sonnen thinks the magnitude of the fight was too much to handle for the 22-year-old.

“He’s not a real fighter. He’s got some lineage, his big brother’s a real fighter and his pops is a real fighter, he’s not. He got tested here and that’s ok,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.

“The lights were too bright from the jump, it was obvious the lights were too bright when he didn’t sign the contract in the first place.

“At the press conference where Jake Paul is not even present and [Fury] didn’t do it by himself, he brought help. I’ve never in my life seen such a thing.

“When [he] needed his hand held on stage to hold a god damn microphone, the gig is up. This isn’t for you.”

Paul will now rematch former UFC champion Tyron Woodley – who he outpointed in August – next weekend in Tampa, Florida.

Fury admitted he was “heartbroken” after withdrawing and outlined his hopes of rescheduling a fight with his rival Paul once fully recovered.

But it seems Paul won’t let Fury off the hook for pulling out of the fight, vowing to make him wait “years” to reschedule his “fumbled” opportunity.

Will it be repeat or revenge in the rematch between Paul and Woodley? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below

Paul will look for his third win as a professional in 2021 after knocking out Ben Askren in April and outpointing Woodley in their first meeting.

And he believes “it’s possible” that a training exercise in which his brother was slamming a medicine ball off his abdominals could have resulted in a broken rib.

“I have seen the footage and who knows it is very possible,” he told the MMA Hour when asked if the drill could have caused Fury’s injury.

“It is very possible that could break a rib for sure, when I do that drill we take precautions and are careful because you hear stories of fighters getting injured while trying to work on their abs.

“Who knows what happened but all of it seems very shady.”