By Charles Brun: In a strange card, cruiserweight Tommy Fury will be facing MMA fighter Anthony Taylor and heavyweight Daniel Dubois will be taking on unknown Joe Cusumano on Sunday, August 29th at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
This will be their American debuts for Dubois and Fury, but unfortunately, they’re not facing high-level opposition.
The recently beaten Dubois (16-1, 15 KOs) will be taking on the 33-year-old Cusumano (19-3, 17 KOs) in a 10 round bout. The Virginia native Cusumano has faced journeyman opposition largely throughout his 11-year professional career.
It’s unknown why Dubois is being matched against a lower-level fighter like Cusumano, but perhaps his promoter believes he’s someone that Americans are familiar with. I don’t think they are.
This will be a step down in competition for the 23-year-old ‘Dynamite’ Dubois from his last fight against Bogdan Dinu last June. Dubois stopped Dinu in the second round. One can only imagine how long Cusumano will last against Dubois.
These two bouts will be part of the support for the main event between YouTuber Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley.
Adding Tommy Fury, the half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, to the Paul vs. Woodley card suggests that we will soon be seeing Tommy and Jake fighting it out in a celebrity type of match. It’ll obviously count as a professional fight on their records, but it’ll still be viewed as a celebrity type of match.
Unlike his brother Tyson, the 22-year-old Tommy Fury isn’t a huge talent, and he’s fought godawful opposition since he turned professional in 2018.
In Tommy’s last fight, he struggled mightily to beat British domestic level fighter Jordan Grant by a four-round points decision.
Many boxing fans saw that fight as a draw, as Jordan landed the better shots throughout.
Tommy Fury’s opponent, 32-year-old Anthony Taylor (0-1), has fought once as a pro in boxing, losing a four-round split decision to Donte Stubbs in 2017.
“This represents a wonderful opportunity for Daniel and Tommy to increase their recognition in the U.S,” said promoter Frank Warren.
“I believe Daniel is the best young Heavyweight in world boxing and that Tommy is primed to prove his boxing ability is of a level befitting his surname.
Also, on August 29th, Paul vs. Woodley card:
- WBC/WBO Women’s Featherweight Champion Amanda Serrano vs. Yamileth Mercado
- Ivan Baranchyk vs. Montana Love
- Charles Conwell vs. Lucas Brian Ariel Bastida
Celebrity YouTuber Jake Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) will be looking to pick up another knockout on his record in facing washed-up former MMA star 39-year-old Tyron Woodley.
Jake, 24, hand-picked Woodley because of his large fanbase from the MMA, not because he’s a great boxer. In fact, Woodley has never fought a boxing match before.
So in that respect, he’s in the same position that Jake’s last opponent, former MMA guy Ben Askren was in going up against him with no experience in boxing. It’s very odd to pick out guys from other sports and then face them in a boxing match, but the stuff sells with non-boxing fans.
Given all the time that Jake Paul has spent learning how to box in the last couple of years, he’ll have an advantage over Woodley, who started as a great wrestler before moving on to MMA.