Tyson Fury’s ringside reaction to his brother Tommy Fury’s majority decision victory over KSI on Saturday night speaks volumes about the ex-Love Island star’s dismal performance. In the lead-up to fight night, TNT had spoken about how he would “destroy” the YouTube star but in the end, his win was thoroughly unconvincing.
Tommy appeared to struggle with KSI’s speed and wild unorthodox style and spent the majority of the contest clinching and dirty boxing on the inside. It wasn’t a particularly eye-catching display but it was enough to get his hand raised.
Two of the judges gave it to Tommy 57-56 while a third had it even at 57-57. Tommy had a point deducted in round two for hitting behind the head which nearly proved to be decisive in such a nip-and-tuck affair.
In the immediate aftermath, KSI insisted he had been “robbed” and claimed he would appeal the result. “It’s a robbery, how many jabs did he land? I’m the YouTuber, you’re the boxer, I understand, you have to win,” he said. “I want to appeal.” The reality of the situation is that it could have gone either way and an appeal will likely fall on deaf ears.
Regardless, KSI has won the moral victory by taking Tommy, the professional boxer with a wealth of amateur experience, into deep waters. It was no doubt closer than the ex-Love Island star’s sizzling Saudi showdown with Jake Paul and that was clear from the tense look on his brother Tyson’s face throughout the fight.
It was a stark contrast to how the WBC heavyweight champion had looked before the fight as he backed his brother to get the business done inside the distance when speaking to DAZN. “Tommy’s trained really hard, he hasn’t cut any corners so I’m expecting Tommy to chin him really,” he told Big Zuu backstage.
Prior to TNT’s bout against Paul last year, Tyson had threatened to disown him in the event of a loss and there was clearly a lot of pressure on his shoulders once again as he stepped between the ropes at the AO Arena, Manchester. Tommy insisted he was “done” with crossover boxing after the fight and snubbed KSI’s request for a rematch.
“He [KSI] goes his way, I go mine. I’m done with all this crossover s***. I’m not a part of that,” he said in his post-fight interview with Ariel Helwani. “I’m here to fight and we go into the next challenge now… I’m done with the bulls***. F*** the bulls*** onto the next challenge. Any of the [Paul brothers] want it, I’d welcome it with open arms. Let’s get [it] on.”
