TOMMY FURY faced ridicule for stating he is at “world championship level” and that Viddal Riley is “not a big enough draw” to fight him.
Fury is coming off the back of handing Jake Paul defeat in their grudge match in Saudi Arabia in February.
And he is now lined up for another huge celebrity blockbuster against Paul’s YouTube rival KSI.
But it appears Fury, 24, has no interest in facing fellow 9-0 prospect Riley, once the coach of KSI, 30.
He told Sky Sports: “No disrespect but Viddal’s fighting a lot lower than me.
“Say what you want about opposition but I’m fighting on a world championship level.
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“I’m doing millions of pay-per-view buys with all these big names. I’m not going to be foolish and drop down and fight Viddal Riley in York Hall, am I?
“At the end of the day, all due respect to him but he’s not a big enough draw.
“At the end of the day, Viddal, who is he outside of boxing? He’s not really anybody. He’s got no global pulling power. He can’t do any pay-per-views.”
The comment did not go down well with fans, as one said: “Tommy did not say he’s fighting at a world championship level surely.”
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Another added: “Tommy is claiming to fight at a world championship level when his hardest fight was Jake Paul.”
Riley, 25, knocked out Anees Taj, 27, later that night and hit back at Fury in a blast of his own.
He responded: “If he doesn’t want to fight, just say he doesn’t want to fight.
“He’s in a sticky position: he’s chosen that side of things, getting paid extremely well. Just say you’re that guy now, say you’re a crossover boxer.
“That’s it, that’s all Tommy has to do. All he has to say is: ‘You know what, I’m a crossover guy now, I don’t really have any interest in the traditional path, I’m not looking to be a traditional pro boxer,’ and I’ll leave him alone.
“But if you’re going to try and blur the lines between the two, then blur the line over here. He doesn’t have to blur the line here.
“He doesn’t have any pull himself anyway. Jake has the pull. KSI has the pull.
“Go check the views on any of his fights when he’s fighting in that realm, and then check mine, and I’ve stayed in this realm and, I would say I have more pull than he does.
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“Anees Taj would knock out Tommy Fury. Let’s not play games now. I think Anees Taj would knock out Tommy Fury.
“I’d like to see Tommy prove himself against an opponent like that, and see if he can deal with them. I doubt he can.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
