Where is the location of Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury and why is the fight not set to go down in either the United States or the United Kingdom?
Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury was originally meant to be in December 2021 at the Amelie Arena in Tampa, Florida, but the Brit would pull out with an injury. The pair were then set to feature at Madison Square Garden in August 2022 before Fury was forced to pull out once again, this time with travel issues.
Now, the third time is (hopefully) the charm, with Jake Paul and Tommy Fury finally set to face each other on February 26 – but where is the fight location this time and why isn’t it happening in America like the previous two scheduled bouts?
Where is Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury taking place?
Jake Paul vs Tommy Fury is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 26 at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia.
The venue has a capacity of 15,000 and is expected to be sold out by the time that fight day comes around. The Diriyah Arena previously hosted Andy Ruiz vs Anthony Joshua 2, which took place in December 2019, after the venue was purposed built for major events in just two months.
Speaking on the arena’s quality, Ruiz acknowledged at the time: “It’s amazing man, it’s crazy how they built everything in a month and a half. It’s amazing to be fighting over here, it’s going to be really historic and I’m planning to make history over here. It’s a lot different. When I first got here none of this was here so it’s unbelievable.”
Over the past several years, Saudi Arabia has arguably become the home of combat sports outside of the United States. This preference for fighting under the Arabian stars within the Western world was notably spearheaded by Callum Smith vs George Groves in 2018, with the UFC also repeatedly heading to the nation and its ‘Fight Island’ both during and after the pandemic.
Why is Fury vs Paul not taking place in America or the UK?
Tommy Fury vs Jake Paul is taking place at the Diriyah Arena, for the most part, because the Saudi Arabian Skill Challenge Entertainment Enterprise will be co-producing the event alongside Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, in association with Queensbury Promotions and Top Rank Boxing.
SCEE chairman Prince Khaled bin Abdulaziz Al Saud said in a statement, “With the consumption of YouTube content per capita in Saudi Arabia remaining one of the highest in the world, the highly anticipated bout featuring one of its most renowned personalities-turned-boxer, Jake Paul, will be amongst the most-viewed events globally.”
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“We are very excited about the upcoming event featuring Jake and Tommy in Riyadh and look forward to welcoming them to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
There is also the aspect of Tommy Fury’s travel issues, with the British fighter being forced to pull out of their re-scheduled bout in August 2022 after being denied entry to the United States.
Fury explained in an Instagram story, as reported via The Independent, that his team had “arrived at Heathrow airport, ready for the press conference, ready to fly out and as soon as I entered the airport I got pulled to one side.”
“I was told by the homeland security officer that was there that my Esta [Electronic System for Travel Authorisation request] had been denied and I wasn’t able to travel to the USA – for a reason that I apparently know. I can stand here and say I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and I have no clue why I’m not allowed to travel to the USA. I’ve been training for a fight this whole time and that’s all I’ve been doing.”
Fury continued, “I have no clue why they would not allow me to travel, and neither does any of my team or my lawyers. So, now I’m having to go to the embassies and all this sort of stuff, trying to resolve it.”
Interestingly, Tommy Fury had previously confirmed on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour in October 2022 that his older half-brother and Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was also denied entry to the United States.
By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]
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