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By: Sean Crose
It took a whole lot of smack talk to get to this point. Or perhaps it didn’t. Either way, social media star turned not half bad up and coming boxer Jake Paul is now officially going to square off against Tommy Fury (brother of Tyson) at Madison Square Garden in an August 6th pay per view event presented by Showtime. “Okay people,” Paul posted on social media Thursday, “he grew a set over night. It’s official, I’m taking this little Fury’s head off. Amanda Serrano and I dual main-event at the Mecca of boxing.” Sure enough, rather than immediately rematching Katie Taylor, who she fought this past spring in a war, Amanda Serrano will be featured in the dual-main event on August 6th as she faces Brenda Carbajal for her featherweight title belts.
The 5-0 Paul was supposed to battle Fury last winter, but Fury stepped aside. Although Paul went on to face Tryon Woodley for the second time instead (in a fight where he brutally knocked the former UFC star out), he expressed little patience with fellow cruiserweight Fury this time around. “Tommy Fury and boxers like him are the reason this sport started to die,” Paul posted on Wednesday. “Tommy, you have 24 hours to fix this.” Needless to say, Fury proved eager to throw down with Paul, as the bout has now been set.
The 8-0 Fury will, at the very least, earn name recognition beyond his last name, which he shares with older brother Tyson, the retired (?) lineal and WBC heavyweight champion of the world. He’ll also be the first fighter Paul has faced professionally who hasn’t made his professional boxing debut against him. Suffice to say, Paul may be challenging himself this time. He has genuine power and discipline galore. Now he’ll be able to prove he’s ready to compete with genuine pros.
As for Serrano, the multidivisional titlist will be stepping down in weight to face a mandatory featherweight title opponent in Carbajal. The 42-2-1 New Yorker Serrano will be once more fighting in the Garden, where she engaged in her war with Taylor last April. The 18-5-1 Carbajal certainly isn’t a top name, but she’s earned her spot as first in line to fight for Serrano’s WBO title. With both Serrano’s belts in play (she’s also the WBC featherweight champion), this is the opportunity of a lifetime for the Argentina’s Carbajal. One need only look back to Andy Ruiz’ stunning win over Anthony Joshua back in 2019 to see what surprising things can happen in a fight at the Garden.
