Tommy Fury has been torn to shreds on social media after reports he was set to pull out of his fight against YouTuber Jake Paul, with some calling the move ’embarrassing’ and accusing the Love Island star of s******g himself.
Fury – brother of heavyweight champion Tyson – had been preparing for the grudge match with his brother after a war of words with the American and a heated exchange at their press conference, but has reportedly been forced to call the fight off after struggling with a cold.
Paul’s former opponent – former UFC star Tyron Woodley – has been mooted as a replacement for Fury, who had promised to give the social media star a lesson and ‘knock him spark out’ on December 18.
Tommy Fury (L) has been savaged on social media after reportedly pulling out of his fight against YouTube star Jake Paul (R)
But after news began filtering through that the fight could be scrapped, boxing fans quickly started poking fun at Tommy, with some claiming he was ‘scared’ of his inexperienced opponent, while others said the potential withdrawal would be hugely damaging to the Fury name.
‘We live in a world now where a professional boxer, aka Tommy Fury, has run scared of a YouTuber-turned-boxer, aka Jake Paul. Madness,’ said one user.
Another wrote: ‘If Tommy Fury actually dropped out of the fight that’s embarrassing.’
‘Surely Tommy Fury hasn’t actually pulled out of the fight because he’s been feeling unwell,’ read another tweet, while one fan called him a ‘bum’ – an insult often used by his brother Tyson.
Tommy had vowed to teach the American a boxing lesson in their fight on December 18
It wasn’t long before the memes started rolling in – one simply showing a picture of a water bottle, reading ‘Fury rn’.
Others decided to make light of Tyson’s bold claim that Tommy could ‘turn up with broken ribs, a broken left hand, two left feet and the flu and still beat Jake Paul’.
Another video showed a woman ringing a bell and yelling ‘shame, shame, shame’ in a classic scene from Game of Thrones.
There were fears Tommy would be unable to take part in his lucrative bout against Paul after training in his Morecambe camp while struggling with illness.
‘Tommy had a little bit of a cold but hopefully he is going to be okay,’ promoter Frank Warren revealed recently.
Paul had already admitted his concerns that the fight would not go ahead, telling Fury ‘just make sure you show up’
‘We are up in Morecambe [on Wednesday] so hopefully we will know more then, but he is up for it and he wants to fight.
‘He can’t wait for the fight and I know certainly from Jake’s perspective he can’t wait for the fight.’
Paul already suspected Fury may withdraw from the fight – telling him at their feisty press conference: ‘Make sure you show up. Just make sure you show up.’
The pre-fight verbal slinging match descended into chaos, live on BT Sport, after Fury’s father, John, delivered a stinging comment about Paul and his girlfriend.
The broadcaster livestreamed the event, which saw Fury and Paul exchanged words. The former was joined by John, Tyson and Warren.
Paul, 24, participated via video link from Puerto Rico and traded insults with John across the farcical 22-minute event.
Tommy – brother of heavyweight star Tyson (far left) was involved in a heated press conference with Paul in a live stream last week
He branded John a ‘nobody’ and told him to ‘suck my d***’ with tempers flaring.
But Fury Sr hit back in grizzly fashion by telling Paul he ‘doesn’t have a d*** to suck’, and then said: ‘You know when Tommy knocks you out, he’s gonna bend your girlfriend over and do her like a dog.’
In the aftermath, BT Sport issued a statement apologising for ‘unacceptable comments’ made during the stream.
‘This week BT Sport streamed a live boxing press conference that included a number of offensive and unacceptable comments, some of which has led to further online abuse,’ the statement read.
‘This goes against all the values that BT Sport wants to uphold. We would like to apologise for any offence or upset this has caused.’
Paul holds a 4-0 professional record, three of which ended by way of a knockout.
Meanwhile, Fury has fought seven times and remains unbeaten. Four of his victories came by knockout.