Tommy Fury Next Fight: Rematches with Paul and KSI or a step towards legitimacy?

Tommy ‘TNT’ Fury had been set to face ex-UFC star Darren Till at the Manchester AO Arena on January 18. But the half-brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury pulled out citing a fear that Till would use MMA techniques in their scheduled boxing encounter.

Fury instead opted for a low-key bout in Hungary, outpointing unheralded Kenan Hanjalic in six rounds.

What next for the Love Island star? Read on to hear the options awaiting 'TNT' and how that Hanjalic win might be more significant than it appears.

The Till fight looked great for Fury. A big name whose erratic nature would help sell a bout that was a walkover for ‘TNT’ on paper. Till had fought in just one exhibition boxing match at the time, in a combat sports career spent almost entirely in MMA. The bout made sense in and out of the ring for Tommy. Let Till sell the tickets before you have an easy night between the ropes.

But Till’s wild, ticket-shifting proclamations gave Fury an out. The UFC star’s comments about kicking Tommy were supposed to give a rather one-sided bout some anything-can-happen edge. The sort of meaningless press conference quote-flinging that keeps these crossover fights in the news cycle. But Fury took it literally, or so he said.

So the fight was off. Till got Taylor, who was 3-3 as a boxing pro but pretty good at the crossover stuff. It didn't sell as many tickets as Fury-Till would have done, but that’s the game. Till sparked the American in six rounds and has since claimed a decision victory over fellow UFC alum Darren Stewart in a second Misfits outing.

As for Fury, he’s a big name in this illegitimate side of the business. After going 8-0 as a pro against the usual parade of journeymen, trading off that glorious surname, Fury realised something. With his stint on Love Island stretching his profile far beyond anything he’d accomplished in the prize ring, the Manchester man surmised that he could make far more money fighting in the burgeoning influencer boxing business than he ever could as a novice pro.

It would have taken years of tough fights and big challenges to equal the seven-figure sums he has made for facing Jake Paul and KSI, the twin-tsars of the pseudo-sport. Forgoing the learning fights and slow grind of professional boxing stardom is arguably not the choice of a man who thinks he could win a world title. But Tommy is a very famous and wealthy individual nonetheless. Some careers are measured in belts, others at the bank.

But with the lucrative Till clash off the table, Fury appeared to walk back a little on his social media boxing journey. 

Some would argue the Hanjalic six-rounder was just a keep-busy affair. But it was notable that Fury's victory in Budapest was his first over an actual professional boxer in three years. Hanjalic is the sort of fighter Fury was beating before the celebrities came knocking on his door. Before he decided to be a big fish in the small but lucrative pond of the YouTube fight game.

Arguably the biggest fights available to him are still rematches with the duo of famous faces he has beaten. Paul had him on the floor in the last round of their bout in Saudi Arabia. That in itself is enough to warrant a rematch, considering the fact ‘The Problem Child’ is no boxer. But in the wake of desecrating the memory of Mike Tyson live on Netflix, Paul dismissed Fury’s offer of a return. Now 'El Gallo' has a world ranking, farcically bestowed by the WBA for his win over the reanimated corpse of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, he will not bother with Fury. 

Could Fury end up back at KSI’s door? That seems a little more likely. ‘TNT’ has touted the bout in the past. KSI stands at the head of the Misfits Boxing promotion, who were scheduled to stage the nixed Till fight. It wouldn’t be a hard fight to make.

KSI has been out of the ring since losing to Fury at the tail end of 2023. But with his finger still very much in the boxing pie, perhaps a rematch with the only man to hand him a pro defeat could entice him?

The unusual nature of Fury’s career has seen him linked with all sorts of fights. The oddest potential match-up was a showdown with legendary former middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Roy Jones Jr. 

Jones is as legitimate as they come and genuinely one of the greatest fighters ever to lace up the gloves. He is also 56 years old. While both camps confirmed that talks had taken place last year, mercifully this fight seems to have evaporated. After the travesty of Paul-Tyson, the world does not need to see another boxing legend exploited.

The one remaining path for Fury would be a permanent return to legitimate pro boxing. His name would sell tickets and the cream of British cruiserweights would surely be queuing up to fight him. A match with unbeaten influencer-turned-pro Viddal Riley has long felt like a natural clash. 

The Hackney man has looked excellent as a pro so far, racking up a 12-0 record. However, in beating the quality Mikael Lawal to retain his English title and outpointing amateur standout Cheavon Clarke to win the British belt, one wonders if he has impressed his way out of a Fury fight. 

Lawal and Clarke are options, as is Isaac Chamberlain. The latter is a former British and Commonwealth cruiserweight boss who had been set to fight Riley before injury kiboshed the bout. Aloys Youmbi meets Ellis Zorro at the end of the month. The winner of that clash will be the mandatory for a crack at Clarke's belt, but they are opponents who could figure in Fury's future if he takes the pro game seriously.

Fury would need a couple of tune-ups before going in with anyone of such quality. It would take a real commitment to leave the Misfits game behind and gain seasoning as a genuine pro. Is that something that is easy to do without the hunger? Fury is rich and famous, if not respected. It will all come down to what that third element means to him.

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