Tyson Fury to be in Tommy's corner for Jake Paul fight

Fury and Paul will fight in December

Tommy Fury will fight Jake Paul in December (Getty Images)

Tommy Fury will have his heavyweight champion brother Tyson in his corner at his upcoming fight against Jake Paul.

The prospect of the bout has been rumoured for months but the official announcement came on Saturday. The pair will fight on 18 December and it will be over eight rounds which is the longest fight of Fury’s career.

There’s a question of whether Fury will be up to the occasion but his father John has said having his brother in his corner will ease any nerves.

He told BT Sport: “Tommy knows he’s up against a stacked deck, but he should still beat Jake Paul at a canter. And if he can’t, there’s no way in the boxing world for him.

“All it is with Tommy – he’s young, can he handle the big occasion on the night? But I’m sure he’s thought about it many times before and he’s got the king of the ring in his corner.”

Fury is the first boxer Paul has faced in the ring after fighting fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, former basketball player Nate Robinson and UFC fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley.

But the star hasn’t backed away from the challenge and has even got Fury to add a clause into the contract that says if he loses he will have to change his name to Tommy Fumbles for a year.

Paul tweeted after the fight announcement: “Pucker up Timmy, it’s time to kiss ur last name and ur family’s boxing legacy goodbye.”