Jake Paul has claimed that former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo is will be in attendance at his upcoming boxing bout against Tommy Fury.
The two are scheduled to finally face off in the ring on February 26, in a fight that has twice before been postponed because of illness and injury as well as visa issues within the last 18 months. Fight week has now begun in Saudi Arabia at the Diriyah Arena, which also hosted Anthony Joshua's rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr. three-and-a-half years ago.
The 15,000-seater venue was purpose-built for that 2019 world heavyweight title fight. Located in the town of Diriyah on the north-western outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, the open-air arena may well now be hosting another heavyweight, but one from the world of football rather than boxing.
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While out on a run in Dubai, where Paul was preparing for the boxing match last week, the fighter was mobbed by several children, as captured in a video on the Top Rank's Real Time series on their YouTube channel.
One fan asked, “are you going to see Ronaldo?” Paul responded by saying: “Yeah, I think he’s coming to the fight.”
Since leaving United last November, Ronaldo has signed for Saudi side Al-Nassr, a team who are based at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, less than two-and-a-half miles from the Diriyah Arena. The 38-year-old has scored five goals in as many games for the club that currently sit atop the Saudi Pro League midway through the season.
Were Ronaldo to be in attendance, then he may well be watching his future personal trainer in the ring if Tyson Fury has anything to say about it. Interrupting an interview with JOE that Paul was partaking in late last month, the two-time world heavyweight champion claimed that he would “leave [Tommy, his younger half-brother] in Saudi Arabia” were the 23-year-old to lose against Paul.
“He can become Cristiano Ronaldo’s best pal, and he can become a PT for Ronaldo in Saudi,” Fury continued. “The two guys are putting it on. They’re both undefeated, and whoever loses is pretty much f***ed.”
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