Influencers

JOHN FURY has CONFIRMED talks with Jake Paul over a rematch for his son Tommy – and responded to rumours of a “heated” row. Paul last February suffered the first defeat of his career by losing a split-decision to Fury in Saudi Arabia.
John Fury with his son TommyCredit: Rex
Jake Paul revealed talks to rematch Tommy FuryCredit: Getty
He has bounced back with two wins and revealed negotiations are going on behind the scenes for a rematch.
But Paul claimed the Furys were only interested in raising the payday figure and questioned if they were purposely pricing themselves out.
John has now hit back to deny that the phone call was a heated one but insisted his son should stand to make more the second time around.
He told the Daily Mail, via Free Bets: “I’m at a loss to know what that heated conversation was. I thought we spoke and had a nice, intelligent conversation.
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“So, I don’t know where all this c**p is coming from. There was never a heated conversation, nothing like that. 
“I thought it went quite well so I don’t understand what people are having their tuppence about because that just wasn’t the case.
“Both sides were very respectful. I knew what we want and they know what they want so we just have to meet in the middle somewhere. I’m sure that can be achieved. 
“You’re going to hear all that second guessing, second hand information and people putting their ten pence in.
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“It’s all clickbait rubbish. We had a meeting and it went very well for our first chat. 
“I think the Pauls are doing an excellent job at what they do, but so are we. Don’t forget, we are the victors here. We are the ones in charge.
“We are in the driving seat. They got the best of it last time, so it’s up to me as Tommy’s representative and father, that we get the best of it this time. I’m sure we will.”
Paul beat ex-UFC star Nate Diaz, 38, on points and knocked out American boxer Andre August, 35, since suffering his first defeat.
The 27-year-old now returns on March 2 on the undercard of Amanda Serrano’s Puerto Rico homecoming with an opponent yet to be announced.
Fury, 24, has also not returned since beating Paul’s arch YouTube rival KSI, 30, via controversial decision in October.
And talks have since cooled with Paul, as John said: “We spoke to them about six weeks ago and we’ve not heard anything since.
“I’m not sure what is going on behind the scenes. But, the buck stops with me. Right here.
“People can say what they want and do what they want, but the bottom line is that it has to go through me and Tommy.”
Tommy Fury beat Jake Paul on pointsCredit: AP More

KSI’s boxing promoter plans talks with Tommy Fury’s dad John – as a mega-money rematch remains on the cards. Fury in October escaped the Manchester Arena with a controversial points win over six rounds to hand KSI his first ever defeat.
Tommy Fury beat KSI controversially on pointsCredit: GETTY
But the disputed result only made the feud between the pair uglier.
Fury claimed he “HATES” his boxing rival while KSI admitted he would happily never see the ex-Love Island star in a big fight again.
The man in the middle of negotiations last year was Kalle Sauerland, who promotes KSI’s Misfits Boxing but has also worked with the Furys.
So Sauerland is plotting a catch up with John amid speculation of a rematch between son Tommy, 24, and KSI, 30.
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He told SunSport: “I’ll give John a call in the next couple of weeks and see what he’s doing. 
“We talks to the Furys a lot. We’ve promoted Roman Fury, dealt with John on that, get on great with Tyson as well. 
“They’re a boxing family so we talk. We’re enemies when it comes to the fight but we got the deal done when a lot of people in this space said, ‘You’ll never get a deal done.'” 
Promoters boasted of selling 1.3million pay-per-views at £20 a pop for the grudge match, which at those estimations raked in over £25MILLION.
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So Sauerland – who formerly promoted heavyweight legend Wladimir Klitschko – would be licking his lips at a rerun.
But even the veteran promoter is still getting to grips with the new age of influencer boxing which is full of more ego than sense.
On the potential of a rematch, Sauerland said: “That’s how I would think, because that’s the traditional path. I can’t read this space. 
“From a traditional sense, the rematch would absolutely make sense. But is it going to happen in this space? We’ll see.” 
Following his first loss, KSI took time away from boxing having also failed in an appeal of the result.
From a traditional sense, the rematch would absolutely make sense. But is it going to happen in this space? We’ll see.Kalle Sauerland on KSI vs Tommy Fury 2
But he confirmed he will return to the ring this year and is in no shortage of blockbuster opponents to welcome him back.
Sauerland said: “This year there’s some big ones out there, whether it’s Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, another Tommy fight. 
“There’s huge fights out there and JJ knows this space better than anyone.
“He’s the godfather of this space, building up a multi, multimillion fanbase outside of boxing. 
“That’s the audience and that’s what’s going to guide him in. It’s different to traditional where you look at the different world title routes. 
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“This is about creating big fights and the ones that I know are Jake Paul, Conor McGregor, Tommy Fury.
“But they know this space better than me. I’m happy to come in and make these fights but we’ll see who it is.” More