British cruiserweight champion Mikael Lawal throws down the gauntlet to Tommy Fury, while promoter Ben Shalom suggests if Fury is looking for credibility he should also seek to challenge English titlist Viddal Riley; watch Isaac Chamberlain challenge Lawal live on Sky Sports this Saturday
Friday 20 October 2023 18:14, UK
Tommy Fury, the brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, Love Island celebrity and professional boxer, has taken on YouTube influencers Jake Paul and KSI in his last two outings.
Afterwards, however, Fury intimated he was now "done with crossover" boxing.
If he is seeking credibility, the British cruiserweight titlist Mikael Lawal has invited Fury to step into the ring with him to fight a genuine champion.
That is the weight class where Fury has been operating and Lawal was not affronted at the prospect of boxing a relative novice.
"One-hundred per cent," Lawal said cheerfully. "Let's make the fight happen. I hope we can get that fight. Definitely, we should fight.
"As long as I can make some money and feed my family, it's business. I'll fight anybody, if financially it makes sense."
Lawal does have a serious fight on his hands this weekend. He will box Isaac Chamberlain for the British and Commonwealth titles at York Hall on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Promoter Ben Shalom has also suggested Fury should be aiming to fight Viddal Riley. London's Riley did train KSI. He is though a highly-skilled boxer, winning the English cruiserweight championship in his last contest.
"For me he [Fury] should be fighting Viddal Riley," Shalom told Sky Sports. "The reason he should be fighting him now is Viddal's only going to get better and better and better. We can see that already and he will get to world level.
"If Tommy Fury was ever going to think it might be competitive, get him early, get him whilst he's early on in his career.
"I know Viddal would love that fight. Realistically Viddal is a serious operator, most fighters won't want to fight him.
"It's a huge fight, and I would suggest if Tommy Fury is looking at the fight, he should be doing it as soon as possible."
Watch Mikael Lawal vs Isaac Chamberlain live on Sky Sports Arena from 7.30pm on Saturday night.
