Former world champion Ricky Hatton believes that Tommy Fury will be the winner when he meets KSI this weekend.
The pair of them fight this Saturday, live on DAZN PPV and DAZN, and while Fury is yet to get anywhere close to his brother, WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, he still has more professional fights to his name than KSI, who with the exception of an annulled victory over Joe Fournier, is known for fighting against other crossover names.
Speaking to Mighty Tips, he was asked if Fury was the favourite, and he said: "Absolutely. At the end of the day, Tommy is the professional boxer and KSI and Jake Paul are YouTubers. I certainly expect Tommy to win. I trained with Tommy for a fair bit and he’s very talented, very good. I watched a bit of footage of KSI and it’s the first time I had seen him. He’s a little bit all over the show and that could cause Tommy a few problems but I can’t honestly see anything over than a Tommy Fury win and coming through.
“He’s got very good boxing skills and KSI might cause a headache over the first couple of rounds but ultimately when it comes to boxing skills Tommy has got the better ability.”
Despite backing Fury for Saturday’s fight, he was less certain that he would be able to make it on the fully pro circuit.
Hatton added: “That remains to be seen. I don’t blame him for going down this route. I think these fights and boxing can both exist within the entertainment business. I was the one who advised Tommy to go on Love Island because there’s more opportunities and door openings if he goes into that and that’s what’s put him in the pipeline for big fights against the likes of Jake Paul.
“As long as we acknowledge it is what it is, if Tommy wants to make a genuine move to become a boxer and not a celebrity fighter and fight a top 10 ranked British fighter (we will see). I think he’ll want to have a proper go at the boxing side of it – he’s only young and has no miles on the clock. While the opportunities are there, fill your boots.”