Inside Jake Paul & Tommy Fury feud as they vow to end each other’s careers – from Molly-Mae DM row to Tyson’s cheeky dig

AFTER two postponed fights and a lot of verbal jabs, one of boxing’s most anticipated grudge matches is less than a month away.

The clash between ex-Love Islander Tommy Fury and YouTuber Jake Paul will take place in Saudi Arabia, on February 26.

Richard Pelham / The SunJake Paul and Tommy Fury will finally fight after two years of taunts[/caption]

InstagramThe fighters’ feud has escalated again after Jake taunted Tommy on a picture showing his nearly-born daughter[/caption]

The ever-rising tensions hit boiling point this week after Jake leaked that his rival’s partner Molly-Mae Hague gave birth before their official announcement.

Despite apologising, he wrote on the couple’s Instagram post: “Just in time to watch your dad get knocked out.”

The remark, which has been branded “distasteful”, is the latest in a long line of clashes between the boxers.

As Tommy, 23, vows to ensure Jake , 26, will “never box again”, we look at how the bitter row began.

Tyson’s fury

Tommy’s brother Tyson Fury is believed to be the instigator of the imminent multi-million-pound boxing match.

Back in 2021, the 34-year-old shared a screengrab of what later emerged to be incorrect ‘viewing figures’ about his younger brother’s fight.

The image wrongly claimed Tommy’s match had been watched by 1.9million viewers, while others barely broke 100,000 views.

Social Media – Refer to sourceThe feud appeared to have been sparked by Tommy’s brother Tyson Fury[/caption]

This is the tweet that kickstarted the feud

At the end of the social media post, which claimed Tommy “slaughtered” competition, he added: “@jakepaul where you at?”

The YouTuber then hit back and claimed to have no knowledge of who Tommy was, despite his appearance on reality TV show Love Island in 2019.

He said: “I get to the bottom of the Tweet and he’s calling me out to like fight someone, and the Tweet is about his brother.

“Oh, I didn’t even know he had a brother. Then he’s calling me out to fight his brother, and I’m like, ‘Bro, what the f*** is going on here?’

“I didn’t know Tyson Fury had a bro? I like Tyson Fury.

“I don’t want a beef with Tyson Fury, but damn, if Tyson Fury took a s***, it would be his little brother.

“He’s literally like this little kid. My point is here. You’re Tyson Fury’s little brother. If you want to fight me, don’t let your big bro do s*** for you.

“Log in to Instagram or Twitter and call me out for yourself, bro. What’s going on in this boxing world?”

Jake went on to brand Tommy a “Ken Barbie doll looking motherf***er” to which the Brit responded by donning a blonde wig to mock his locks and told him to “stick to YouTube”.

Instagram / @jakepaulJake Paul calling out Tommy Fury in a video[/caption]

Tommy Fury wearing a blonde wig to mock Jake

Molly-Mae’s fake flirty text

Both fighters continued to trade jabs online, with Jake accusing Tommy’s girlfriend Molly-Mae Hague of flirtatiously messaging him in 2018.

The DM, which she denounced, read: “Might be coming to America later this year and have always been a fan of your videos.”

The alleged message, which featured a white heart emoji and a face licking its lips, was signed off: “Maybe you can show me around?!”

Molly-Mae later pointed out that the white heart emoji wasn’t in use at the time of her ‘message’.

On Twitter, she wrote: “Times must be hard when you’re having to fake a DM…. [two silly face emojis] photoshop is scary.”

Molly-Mae rejected Jake Paul’s claim that she messaged himInstagram

InstagramLater the fashionista mocked her boyfriend’s boxing rival[/caption]

InstagramJake took aim at Tommy dancing topless in a nightclub in September 2021[/caption]

In another barbed exchange in September, Paul branded footage of Tommy dancing topless in a nightclub “the most embarrassing thing” he had “seen in a while”.

He also posted a video performing a mocking impersonation of his rival, tagged Molly-Mae   and posted a vomit emoji. 

In the footage, Paul said: “My closest friends, coaches, team-mates, if I’m ever at a club, shirtless, at a table by myself going like this… someone pull me out of that f***ing club, immediately.”

Backstage ‘melee’

Tommy, who signed a two-fight deal with US network Showtime, won on points while Jake did the same – putting them on course for a grudge match.

And the rivalry reached new heights when the pair came face-to-face backstage, causing a melee between their teams.

Tommy said afterwards: “There was a moment in that corridor where everything was going off between the security, my team, his team and it was just me and him.

“I looked dead into his soul. When the cameras are not around, he doesn’t want to know.

“Let’s be honest, if he really wanted to fight me, I’d have been in that ring there at the end through the ropes, let’s go, there’s no return.

“But he didn’t want that and the reason why he didn’t want me in the ring is because if I was getting in there, he wouldn’t be able to go back on it.”

Negotiations

BT SportTommy Fury and Jake Paul’s backstage bust-up[/caption]

Talks between the two began soon after, but immediately hit a road bump.

Tommy admitted he rejected two fight offers, believing he was being lowballed.

So Jake publicly bumped the deal up to $1million, plus additional pay-per-view bonuses.

But Tommy responded: “To everybody out there, $1million for a fight of this magnitude is not even worth getting out of bed for, this fight is going to gross millions and millions of pounds.

“I cannot walk down the street without anybody asking me when are you fighting Jake Paul, so until you want to make a serious offer and put it on the table, we can’t think about fighting pal.”

In 2021, Jake’s advisor Nakisa Bidarian told SunSport: “This is an unbelievable offer.

“More than most UFC champions get as a guaranteed base. It’s comical them saying it’s not worth getting out of bed for.”

The fight is now believed to have been agreed for $2.5million (£2m).

Baby birth leak

Paul said: “Tommy has no excuses now…Baby’s born. Money’s massive. Immigration no issue.

“Tyson promises he and Papa will make Tommy retire from boxing and change his last name if he can’t beat the YouTuber.”

instagramMolly-Mae and Tommy in a loved-up display during pregancy[/caption]

InstagramTommy vowed to protect his daughter and described her as ‘my world’[/caption]

The boxer seemed unaware that he had revealed Molly-Mae had given birth before they had the chance to announce it. 

He told SportBible: “Did I do that? I leaked it? Oh s***. My bad. I’m sorry, Tommy. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone the gender or anything like that.”

It was rumoured that Molly-Mae and Tommy wanted to keep the announcement of their child a secret until after the fight had happened. 

Tommy initially refused to comment on their daughter’s birth but later told the BBC that the new addition wouldn’t affect his training.

He said: “I’ve got my sole sight focused on Jake Paul. By the time I get in the ring I’ll be an absolute specimen and I’ll be able to dismantle this man very quickly and very early.”

It didn’t stop Paul for levelling a cheeky dig on Molly-Mae’s post announcing the birth, where he spoke about the child’s father being “knocked out”.

‘Never box again’

The upcoming clash follows Tommy being forced to pull out twice – first after breaking ribs in December 2021 and again last August over a US visa issue.

And it seems neither side will be pulling any punches after delivering blunt threats and having to be pulled apart just days ago. 

Tommy and Paul went nose-to-nose ahead of Anthony Yarde’s light-heavyweight title challenge against Artur Beterbiev, in London, to exchange fiery words.

https://www.instagram.com/derekwarchisora/?next=While squaring off days ago, Tommy said Jake would ‘never box again’[/caption]

https://www.instagram.com/derekwarchisora/?next=Jake responded with equally fiery threats vowing: ‘I’m ending you’[/caption]

Tik TokLater, Tyson Fury pranked Jake by pretending to punch him where fans claimed to see his ‘fear’[/caption]

Fury, 23, said: “Come 26th of February, this s***’s been going on too long, he’ll 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 26th of February.”

Paul, 26, responded: “He’s fought taxi drivers, he’s got no chin, it’s all a joke. 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 impostor, it’s all a bravado, it’s all fake confidence.”

Ahead of their face-off, Tyson Fury hilarious pranked Paul by paying him a surprise visit during an interview with JOE.co.uk and pretending to punch him.

One boxing fan claimed they “could literally see the fear” and another added: “Jake’s life flashed before his eyes.”