On a night where his older brother fought for the world heavyweight championship, Tommy Fury was also being showcased to the world in a very different context. His return to the ring after withdrawing from his fight against Jake Paul in December proves that he can make it in the world of boxing and potentially step out from the limelight of brother Tyson.
Fury looked the better fighter throughout his fight with Daniel Bocianski, knocking his opponent down in the fifth round before a judges' decision declared Fury the winner after six rounds. In reality, Fury never really got out of second gear during the fight and this begs questions as to what lies ahead for 'TNT'.
A fight against Paul could be seen as somewhat of a sideshow for a boxer whose career has got underway in a steady if unspectacular fashion with wins over a variety of lower ranked fighters. His bout against Bocianski of Poland tonight was his sternest test so far, but one that doesn't answer too many questions about what may lie in the future for him.
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Speaking earlier in the week, Tommy, also known as 'TNT', said that his 27-year-old Polish opponent 'wipe the floor' with Paul, who has never fought a dedicated professional boxer. He also said that he could step off of his sofa and beat Paul any time without a training camp.
He explained at Thursday's undercard press conference : "I've got a live opponent coming over, he's young, I think he's 27 and is 10-0-1 - he's coming for a fight and he's an actual boxer. These guys that Jake Paul is fighting are not boxers", he added, "This guy that I'm fighting on Saturday night would wipe the floor with Jake Paul".
However, his withdrawal from the original bout in December does show that the Fury camp might not take a fight against Jake Paul with the same private confidence as the 22-year-old showed in front of the media on Thursday. Any loss to Paul would be damaging to the Fury brand, meaning that the Love Island star would have to show the same kind of form he showed tonight in any fight.
As father John also explained in the build-up to this fight, the young star has no shortage of career options due to his established Love Island fame. Despite this, for the moment at least, it appears that the youngster is dedicated to a serious career in the sport he has participated in since he was a child.
The chance to fight against Jake Paul would be extremely lucrative with a high level of interest in the fight, but does Tommy value commercial success over sporting success? This is something we will see in the coming months in the aftermath of tonight's fight - will the fans get to see what they want, or will any bout be dismissed by the Fury camp in pursuit of more credible sporting goals?
