The boxing legend discusses the possibility of a sensational boxing return against KSI, Jake Paul negotiations and Tyson Fury’s retirement.
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What were your thoughts on KSI vs Wayne Bridge collapsing?
When it comes down to things like this, it is really disrespectful. One thing about these YouTubers is that they know how to get under people’s skin and they’re good at it as well. They know it will make people flip so they will say something that will get their YouTube buys and get some excitement with people talking about it. Obviously, Wayne then pulled out and thought f*** you, I don’t need the money, I’m the one who was doing you the favour, so he walked away. It was too personal.
Could KSI be your next fight?
There is nothing out there that they have said to me. They keep mentioning my name and calling me out.
I’ve never spoken to KSI or anyone from his team, but they know where I am and know how to get in touch with me. We have mutual friends, and they have spoken to some of my mutual friends and asked about the fight, but nobody has come to me. I am my own boss now and have been for the last five years. If they want to negotiate with me, I will speak to them and send it to my lawyer and then negotiations start. I manage everything and know everything in the game.
I want £10m for the fight 100% because a fight like that I am not getting cut short with PPV numbers. If I want to return to the ring again then I want to make sure I am motivated to get back into the ring. I need something big to push me back to the ring. I have enough money, a big name and have won multiple world titles, the Olympics and a lot of huge fights and tough training. We’re prize fighters.
Then I had a meeting with Jake Paul’s team, and they said “give me a price, what do you want for a fight?” I know the numbers really well and have been in the biggest fights in boxing. I know the PPV buys, the gate, the food and drink prices and I want a percentage of everything because I’m the one making the show. I gave them my price and they flopped. They didn’t want to move forward. The meeting was a little bit dead, and they don’t know what they’re doing. Jake Paul’s team don’t know what the f*** they are doing. Literally, when it comes to boxing and no disrespect to Nakisa Bidarian, but he doesn’t have a clue. Netflix has landed on his lap, and they don’t know how to handle it.
You need to show boxers the same love and give the fighters enough money to get them back into the ring. So, for someone like Amir Khan to get back into the ring, they need to pay that money. On a serious note, Jake Paul’s manager is a very arrogant guy. Jake Paul is a lovely guy, I thought he would have a chip on his shoulder, but it was mainly Nakisa Bidarian, I didn’t like the way he came across and how big headed he was. Instead of negotiating, they told me the fighter, who was Neeraj Goyat, and I said this was my price. instead of coming back with a counteroffer they flopped and gave it a miss. I wanted £10m. Imagine a British Pakistani fighter against an Indian fighter, it would have been huge. They were so unprofessional, and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Do you think Tyson Fury will make a return to boxing?
Tyson is a warrior, and I believe he is the type of fighter who will come back and will not want to leave the sport not giving the fans the fight that they want with Anthony Joshua. I don’t think he will call it a day. He’s going to be there and come back for that one. If that fight isn’t on the table though I don’t think there’s another fight that will motivate him to come back for.
Tyson is a warrior and is no joke. He’s not one of those fighters who is scared, he has just come off two hard fights with Oleksandr Usyk away from his family and I think that is why he didn’t come back to the Ring Magazine event. He wants to relax and spend some time with his family. Sometimes with all of the media attention and the cameras, you want to be left alone and he’s at a point where he wants to be left alone and then when Tyson does want it and gets that itch, he’ll want to come back and get it.
How does the fight with AJ go if it happens?
It’ll be a good, close fight. I think it will go the distance, but it will be good to see because both fighters are at a good level. Anthony Joshua has had some good wins (before Daniel Dubois) and looked really good and revived. Then you look at Tyson Fury. He has to be in that type of position to make it a close fight with Anthony Joshua. If Fury is still at the top and has all of the confidence, then I think Fury wins that fight all day long. But with the last two fights, it’s even and is a 50/50 fight now.
Mentally, Fury may have been impacted and that’s normal. I’m not talking bad about him but it’s normal and happened to me. When I had that fight loss against Lamont Peterson, mentally I was done. Even though I knew I was a better fighter than Danny Garcia, he beat me and knocked me out. I was outboxing him and destroying him but it’s life. I feel Fury needs to come back and have one or two fights and then take the AJ fight. But knowing Fury with the b**** he has got, he will want to jump straight into that fight which would be very hard.
Chris Eubank Jr v Conor Benn – who wins?
I have a lot of respect for both fighters. I’m more a friend of Conor than I am with Chris but they have both shown me a lot of love and a lot of support. If I am looking at it as a boxing fan, I favour more towards Chris Eubank because he’s the bigger guy, stronger and has more experience. But I was watching videos today on Instagram of Conor Benn and he looks sharp. He’s hitting the bag with that power and Shawn Porter said he was strong. It shows that this guy is taking nothing lightly.
Eubank Jr is training hard and don’t get me wrong he’s a good fighter but with Benn who is a smaller guy, a lot of people think he will beat Conor. But he is training so hard and looks good in camp. I have Eubank winning that fight but to see Benn training so hard and be so serious, it shows that he wants it and maybe this is that big fight that will show the world that Conor belongs at the top.
Are you still selling your wedding venue in Bolton?
I’ll be honest, the wedding venue is doing so well and bringing in so much money that I don’t want to sell it now. Also, it looks so nice, and it makes me happy that I’ve given 150 jobs to people in Bolton. I’m putting food on people’s plates and am looking after their livelihood, so it makes me happy that 150 people are working, getting a wage and working in a job. It’s good for Bolton too. You’re giving back to the community, which is what I am doing, and it feels amazing.
I remember I was looking at doing the same project in London but at the end of the day, I wanted to do something for my hometown. To go there and spend over £10m in my hometown where I could’ve done it anywhere knowing it would’ve been much higher than Bolton but it’s what I wanted to do.