Home advantage is a precious thing in boxing, as Tommy Fury showed on Saturday night in Manchester with a win on points against YouTuber KSI.
Such was the feverish excitement around this grudge match, the AO Arena was at full capacity by 19:00 BST, four and a half hours before the headline bout – a rare sight in the professional boxing world.
The venue was awash with famous faces, crammed in to watch Fury take centre stage. Eddie Hearn, Chris Eubank Jr, Aitch, Louis Theroux and Mo Farah were just some of the big names spotted in the crowd. Of course, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was also in attendance to support his younger brother.
From the very start everyone watching knew this was no ordinary fight. Fury made his entrance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, while his opponent arrived in the driver’s seat of a green Lamborghini, while his own song – named after the supercar – played to the sell-out crowd.
In a six-round cruiserweight contest, which was not licensed by the British Boxing Board of Control, Fury got the better of his opponent, with one judge scoring it 57-57 and the other two 57-56 to Fury.
Taking to Instagram on Sunday after his win, Fury posted some of the best snaps of the evening and lavished praise on his home Manchester crowd: “10-0. Thank you Manchester, my home town and my people… I had chills walking into that arena last night. An evening I will never forget. Glory to God always 🙏🏼🤍.”
“We’re going to appeal, I want to appeal,” KSI said in his post-fight interview. “I’m sorry, that’s outrageous. I felt like I won that.”
Will there be a Fury-KSI round two? Fury has been keen to play down more ‘YouTube boxing’ but only time will tell.
Featured image credit: Instagram/Tommy Fury
