Tommy Fury can become a world champion, says UFC heavyweight star Tom Aspinall.
Aspinall has trained with Fury in the past and knows him well. He believes that Fury can develop into a top-class boxer.
“Tommy was really young at the time – I think he was probably 16, 17 – and I was just doing some sparring at the gym where he trained. So I’ve known Tommy for a long time,” Aspinall told Sky Sports News.
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“Do I think he can go on and become a world champion? Yeah. He’s young, he’s 23. I’m sure with another five, six years’ training under his belt, he could push on and do that kind of stuff.”
Fury, though, could continue to fight big names from the YouTube and social media sphere of influencers.
“It depends what he wants to do, the ball’s kind of in his court at the moment,” Aspinall said.
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“But fair play to him for making money. Go and make money if you can. I wouldn’t be turning that money down. I’d be doing exactly what he’s doing so fair play to him.”
Fury and Jake Paul both have been criticised for the basic level of boxing they displayed in their pay-per-view extravaganza last weekend, but Aspinall thinks Fury performed well in that environment.
“I enjoyed his fight,” Aspinall said. “They’re not novices. I guess they are, like, intermediate or whatever.
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“To be fighting with that skill level in such a high-pressure situation… I think that probably affected them a little bit. I’m sure they have the skills to take each other out under different circumstances. If it was on a local show, or whatever, I’m sure they would have got the stoppage.
“They probably just got a bit keen when they shouldn’t have got a bit keen or maybe the opposite, maybe they froze up when the finish was there or whatever. It’s a really high-pressure situation for the amount of fights that they’ve both had. Fair play to them.”
He added: “Away from everything else, Tommy’s actually a really nice guy. He’s a really nice person. I like to see nice people do well. If he’s making money, he’s earning a living – and from what I’m hearing he’s made enough to take care of a few generations – that’s amazing. So very happy for him.”
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He believes there is a lesson for fighters to learn from the success of the Paul-Fury event.
“I can only speak for myself but I don’t want to fight and no one care about it,” he said. “I really care about it when I fight. I really care about it.
“My whole life is centred around the result and the performance of that fight in eight weeks’ time, three months’ time, two weeks’ time, whenever I’m fighting. It’s a massive deal for me. I don’t want to do all that training and sacrifice all that stuff for no one to care about it.
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“So try and get as many eyes on you as you possibly can. That’s what I’m going to be doing moving forward.
“Within the realms of being yourself as well, you don’t want to start being a character of who you’re not and be fake,” he continued.
“You definitely have to appreciate the fact that it’s entertainment as well and try and get as many people watching as you can.”
