Jake Paul and Tommy Fury’s highly-anticipated bout finally arrives this Sunday, 26 February and not only are fights fans and sceptics alike eager to see what happens, but some of boxing’s biggest names are getting their predictions in.
The influencer turned pro boxer and younger Fury brother have both talked a big game ahead of the fight, the build-up to which feels like it has been dragged out significantly as a result of multiple cancellations and rearrangements thanks to last-minute injuries, visa issues and so on.
However, the pair have now reached the point of no return and having had the official face-off, the boxing world is now left to decide whose going to win. Unsurprisingly, Tommy’s big brother Tyson is backing family but did finally concede that Jake can, indeed, fight.
Nevertheless, the ‘Gypsy King’ still believes “100% Tommy is going to win” and even believes it’ll be a knockout victory.
Although it’s clear there is now an acceptance among the Fury camp that the younger Paul brother can and has been fighting professionally for some time now, Tyson did caveat: “I don’t think he can beat a Fury, no”.
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He also went on to say he is “very proud” of his brother for putting on a proper main event like this, adding that “he has always believed in himself”, even when he was a little kid. As for the other Tyson present for the fight in Saudi Arabia, ‘Iron Mike’ had a different take on who he thinks is going to edge it.
As a true boxing legend and global sporting icon, many might have assumed that Mike Tyson would pretty resistant to the rising celebrity and influencer advent within the discipline, but having proved himself to be taking this thing seriously after six straight wins, he’s clearly convinced ‘Kid Dynamite’.
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The 56-year-old admitted that while he hasn’t seen Tommy Fury fight before, he said: “I don’t think he’ll be able to beat Jake Paul”. He also believes the 26-year-old is only getting “better and better as he fights”, insisting that “someone’s getting knocked out… someones 0 has got to go”.
On the other hand, while both fighters are currently undefeated in their fledgling careers — Fury boasting just two more wins than Paul — and Tyson believes that he is “the biggest name in boxing right now besides the heavyweights”, the likes of Derek Chisora can’t seem to decide what the fight means.
Derek Chisora told me it’s “a disgrace to boxing” if the WBC give Jake Paul an official world ranking for defeating Tommy Fury pic.twitter.com/ROwy1xxElS
Despite initially telling IFL TV that he believes Paul will “get knocked out… along as he’s getting paid” (a suspicion many have levelled given all of the hype thus far), Chisora has most recently named the American as the favourite but still feels all the posturing might be his downfall.
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Speaking to the Mirror, he said: “all the odds are favouring Jake and everything, all the fans are saying ‘Jake, Jake, Jake’. But I’ve got a feeling that Jake might get stopped by Tommy, but if that happens then ‘oh wow’.”
Moreover, it seems he is more concerned with what a victory for Paul would mean for boxing at large after the WBC said he would gain a ranking if he beats Fury. Chisora noted that “it’s hard enough for real athletes, real boxers to gain those rankings” and the rules shouldn’t be bent for the sake of money.
These are just a few of the boxers who have given their Paul vs Fury predictions and, aside from the result, it seems so many both within the industry and beyond can’t decide whether it’s good for the sport or not.
What do you think and who do you think is going to take the W on Sunday?
You can watch the highlights from the final pre-match press conference and a rather fiery face-off down below:
Featured Image — BT Sport/Boxing Social (via Twitter)/Jake Paul (via IG)
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Scott Carson reveals important behind-the-scenes role at Manchester City
Danny Jones
Recently retired goalkeeper Scott Carson has revealed the unsung but important role he had behind the scenes during his time at Manchester City.
The 40-year-old ex-pro called time on his playing career after more than two decades and six years in sky blue, having made just two appearances for the club during a period in which they won 11 trophies.
Carson officially hung up his gloves on 23 October 2025, following his contract expiration, and since then has found himself carrying out a number of interviews, including one with Fozcast, hosted by another fellow shotstopper who spent time in Manchester, Ben Foster.
While lots of people have joked that he did very little to earn the flurry of medals so late in his career, or at the very least theorised as to what he actually did behind the scenes, he’s now been more open than ever about the largely sidelined spell.
🗣️ "When people had to be serious, they were serious"
Scott Carson reveals what it was like working under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. pic.twitter.com/HZGjVkrso0
Sitting down with Sky Sports, the Cumbrian keeper confirmed that initially it was, indeed, just a case of serving as not even as a rotation option but a back-up third choice.
Nevertheless, he’s an experienced veteran with 11 different teams on his CV, including Leeds United, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday – though only a handful of games for each – as well as half a century of appearances at Wigan Athletic before his longest stints at the likes of West Brom and Derby County.
While this job usually involves purely training, helping keep other players sharp, he says that after settling into the Etihad Campus a little more, he found himself performing a much more influential, albeit largely unsung, role in the background.
Getting validation from manager Pep Guardiola that the side “needed more of that”, he essentially ended up providing valuable seniority and motivation amongst the group, despite only playing a couple of times.
Bidding farewell to the Whitehaven-born cult hero, the club wrote: “During his time at City, Carson has been praised by goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor and peers Ederson and Stefan Ortega Moreno for his work ethic and the effect of his positive attitude amongst the group.”
Speaking about Guardiola specifically, he hailed the Catalan coach for having overhauled modern football in this country, as well as giving him the secondary task of supporting his teammates, be it via boosting morale and ‘picking up’ those left frustrated by matchday selection.
As well as noting his widely publicised detail-oriented nature, he also made a point of recognising that Pep himself was “evolving each season”, whether or not everyone else saw it.
In short, he said he has helped improve the quality of the Premier League and, more specifically, that he helped redefine what a goalkeeper can be in the division.
You can watch the rest of the interview in full down below.
Manchester set to host five UEFA EURO 2028 matches – including England’s opening game
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has been confirmed to be the host of five matches at the upcoming UEFA EURO tournament in 2028.
This also, crucially, would include England‘s opening match, should they qualify directly.
The joint announcement by Manchester City and Manchester City Council today comes as UEFA has now released key details about the UK & Ireland 2028 competition – which, as it stands, is less than 1,000 days away.
It has been confirmed that the Etihad Stadium – which is known as The City of Manchester Stadium when not relating to Manchester City football club – will host four Group Stage matches across four different groups, offering both local and international football fans the chance to see a range of different national teams in action.
On top of this, Manchester will also be the host a Round of 16 knockout match as the tournament progresses.
UEFA EURO 2028 will kick off at the National Stadium of Wales in Cardiff on Friday 9 June 2028, culminating in the Final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 9 July 2028.
Across the UK and Ireland, nine stadiums will host matches during the upcoming tournament – with other northern stadiums including Everton Stadium in Liverpool, and St James’ Park over in Newcastle.
More than three million tickets – as sold by UEFA – are set to be available for the tournament, and more information on this will be issued in due course.
Following an independent assessment, UEFA EURO 2028 is expected to generate up to £3.6 billion in socio-economic benefits for the UK and Ireland between 2028 and 2031, with benefits including job creation, regional growth, and direct spending from international visitors.
The countdown has started in Manchester for #EURO2028!
Five matches are scheduled to be played here – including England's opener if they qualify – and more than 300,000 fans will be welcomed to the city in June 2028.
Danny Jones -
24th February 2023 
