Dillian Whyte and Tyson Fury will fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday for the WBC heavyweight championship; Sky customers will be able to buy the BT Box Office fight through Sky
Thursday 21 April 2022 08:35, UK
Tommy Fury has issued a 'Want it? Come get it' message to Jake Paul as the Brit continues to be linked to a long-touted fight with the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
Fury, who takes on Daniel Bocianksi (10-1) on the undercard of Tyson Fury's world title defence against Dillian Whyte this Saturday, had been due to face Paul in December before being forced to withdraw two weeks out from the event due to a bacterial chest infection and broken rib.
Paul subsequently fought Tyron Woodley, logging a sixth-round knockout victory in his rematch with the former UFC Welterweight champion.
The 22-year-old has now put the ball in Paul's court as far as a rescheduled meet is concerned, and insists his focus is on the more "credible" challenge presented by his upcoming Wembley opponent.
"I'm only fixed on Saturday night, I don't care what Jake Paul says, right now he can't keep my name out of his mouth," Fury told Sky Sports.
"First he doesn't want to fight me, then I'm a potential opponent, then he wants to see me get a knockout to get the fight on, I don't know where he's up to in his mind - but in my mind all I'm thinking about is Saturday night.
"In terms of Jake Paul, don't mention my name unless you want to fight, it's as simple as that.
"I'm not hard to find, get in contact, let's set it all up and let's get on with it. I'm not even going to get into that right now, my mindset is on Saturday night.
"I've got a lot more credible opponent that I'm facing Saturday night than I would have in facing Jake Paul."
Fury is fighting for the first time since seeing off Anthony Taylor via unanimous decision last August to improve his record to 7-0 as a professional.
With his continued development has come the emergence of more prospective opponents aside from Paul, among those being undefeated cruiserweight Viddal Riley.
"I don't really care who it is, I've got a good team around me, that's what a team is for, to pick and guide fights," said Fury.
"I'm sure my dad and everybody around me on my team is going to pick the right fights for me.
"I don't have any say in opponents, I just train, turn up on the day, turn up on weight and fight."
Fury admits if it were up to him he would be back in the ring on a monthly basis, but says "we all know that isn't going to happen".
He explains to Sky Sports that his ideal plan would be to fight "three or four" times in 2022.
A European-record 94,000 capacity awaits at Wembley this weekend, and while Fury finds himself part of an historic night of British boxing, he remains under no illusions as to where he is in his young career and where he can yet go.
"I feel like I've come on leaps and bounds in the gym day by day, it's just about taking it nice and slow, getting the right fights at the right time and building slowly," he explained.
"I'm 22-years-old, I've only had seven fights as a pro and 10 amateur fights, it's not a lot to work with but we're making it work.
"Saturday night is just another step along this journey and you're going to see a new and improved Tommy Fury.
"I know I keep saying it but it's true because I'm not happy with the last two performances and I'm going out there Saturday to make a statement and box how I know I can box."
At the root of his early step up from the amateur ranks was a belief within his team that the Manchester fighter was more stylistically equipped for the professional game.
That stance has not changed, nor, though, has self-recognition of his room for improvement.
"Out of amateur and pro, pro definitely suited me more. Pro is better for me, you can sit down on your shots, it's a longer distance so you can get into your grove.
"I'm just excited to be on this journey and learning every step of the way on it.
"I've got a credible opponent Saturday who is 10-1, he's coming over to fight, that's one thing a lot of my opponents haven't come over to do, but you've seen the ones that have come to fight I've got out of there."
Bocianski looms as one of Fury's toughest tests thus far and enters the fight on the back of suffering his first career defeat to Patryk Szymanski via TKO last March.
"I've watched every fight available to watch on him," said Fury.
"But at the end of the day on Saturday night it's not about what he does well, it's what I do well, it's all about what I do Saturday.
"I don't care what he's going to do, I'm just going in there to box how I'm going to box, what I've been doing for the past 15 weeks of training."
It is occasions like this that make it all worth it.
"I'm super excited, you can't get a bigger stage than this, 94,000 sellout at Wembley, it doesn't come any bigger than this.
"I'm excited I'm on the bill, I'm excited to put on a performance for all the fans that are going to be there and it's going to be a good night of boxing.
"This is why we all train so hard, why we go through the gruelling camps, for nights like this.
"It has been a hard camp, it's been a long camp, I'm just ready to put everything I've done in the camp out there on display on Saturday night."
If you wish to purchase Tyson Fury v Dillian Whyte on BT Sport Box Office on 23rd April 2022, please visit www.sky.com/boxoffice/btsport .
