Tommy Fury vs Jake Paul


 Tommy Fury will face Jake Paul in arguably the most-hyped contest featuring two novices in boxing history this weekend.

"This fight is just going to show that Jake Paul is not a professional boxer and you can't mix YouTube boxing with professional boxing," Fury, the younger brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson, says.

Over the past six years, boxing has taken a somewhat unexpected, and divisive, twist which started with a fight between YouTubers Joe Weller and Theo Baker in a Brighton gym in 2017.

Following its success, a number of video content creators, reality television stars and social media influencers turned their hand to the art of pugilism; creating a new wave of fight fans and generating a whole heap of money.

Boxing aficionados feel it makes a mockery of the sport; an insult to more talented fighters who have spent years grafting and honing their craft, and still struggle to make ends meet.

BBC Sport speaks to Fury, promoters Frank Warren and Eddie Hearn and former two-time world champion Carl Frampton to discuss what Fury has to gain - and lose - from taking on Paul, and whether Sunday's fight in Riyadh can be considered a 'real' boxing match-up or just the latest instalment in the story of celebrity boxing.

'I look at it as an entertainment format'

Supporters of the YouTube boxing phenomenon say it brings new, younger, fresher eyes to the sport. It can only be a good thing to grow boxing's appeal, they argue.

"YouTube boxing is an interesting one," Hearn says. "I did Logan Paul against KSI, I saw the numbers first-hand.

"But I struggle with it because I'm probably a more old-fashioned, hardcore boxing fan and it wasn't for me.

"It doesn't mean it doesn't create interest. It's entertainment. But I don't even look at YouTube boxing as boxing, I just look at it as an entertainment format."

Fury, 23, fought a handful of amateur bouts, but most of his fame comes from his stint on dating show Love Island. As a professional he has won all eight fights, albeit his opponents have a combined record of 24 wins, 176 losses and five draws.