After two false starts, Jake Paul and Tommy Fury will finally fight. 

Their bout will be a pay-per-view broadcast on ESPN+ in the United States and BT Sport Box Office in the UK on Feb. 26 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On Jan. 28, Paul and Fury leveraged the stage presented by the Artur Beterbiev and Anthony Yarde fight at the Wembley Arena in London to promote their own fight in the middle of the ring, minutes before the main event. 

“This sh!ts been going on way too long. He will never box again. I’m not 50, I ain’t 40. I ain’t an MMA guy. I’ve been doing this my whole life, and I swear to God, you’re finished come the 26th of February,” said Fury. 

“I was beating better people than you when I was 14 in amateurs. I will school you. I ain’t an MMA guy. I was beating people better than you when I was 14 while you were messing about on the Disney Channel. Don’t come here pretending you’re about it when you’re not.

“I guarantee you. I swear to God. If it’s the last thing I do in boxing – you’re over in four weeks. Enjoy the last few weeks of your so-called boxing career.”

Paul (6-0, 4 KOs) and Fury (8-0, 4 KOs) were first supposed to fight on Dec. 18, 2021 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida but the Brit pulled out of the bout due to an injury, and Paul instead scored a knockout of the year in a rematch against former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

Paul and Fury agreed to reschedule the fight on Aug. 6 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, but Fury had to pull out once again, this time due to travel issues. Paul switched his focus to fighting another legitimate opponent with a boxing-first background in Hasim Rahman Jr. before being forced to cancel the event altogether due to Rahman having weight issues. 

Paul is coming off a unanimous decision win against the 47-year-old future MMA Hall of Fame fighter Anderson Silva in October. 

Paul took exception to the caliber of foes Fury has faced during their verbal battle. 

At the time of their fights, Fury’s previous eight opponent’s had records totaling 24 wins,176 losses, and 3 draws. 

“He’s fought taxi drivers. He has no chin. It’s all a joke,” said Paul. “I’m ending you February 26th, and you already know it. You’re going to crack under pressure. You’re not built for this moment. You’re an imposter. It’s all a bravado, it’s all fake confidence. You can’t even knock out a taxi driver.

“He’s going to get knocked out by a Disney star – plain and simple. That’s it. End of story. You’ll see, bro. You’ll see who the real professional boxer is. And all these critics, all of these people say, ‘Fight a real boxer.’ Well, here we go … Tommy has so much to lose. His family is going to disown him when I knock him the f--- out. Plain and simple, that’s it. Sorry Tyson, I love you, but it’s over for your brother.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, via email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or on www.ManoukAkopyan.com.