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EXCLUSIVE: Tommy Fury on the honour of carrying his family name into pro debut

Published 14:07 19 Dec 2018 GMT

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Huge things are expected of Tommy Fury.

Fury, the younger brother of heavyweight superstar Tyson, will make his professional debut this weekend and he has been given the chance to showcase his skills on one of the biggest cards of the year as he will meet Latvia's Jevgenijs Andrejevs prior to the IBF featherweight title fight between Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton. On Saturday night, Fury will hope to begin weaving the newest patch of his family's fighting tapestry and while you'd never guess that Tommy and Tyson were brothers to look at them, the newcomer to the paid ranks admits that his surname does play a role in how he approaches fights. "I've felt the weight of the name even as an amateur, right up to my last amateur fight. There's always nerves with it due to the last name," Fury told SportsJOE.

"I've kind of learned to live with it, to be honest. Even when I'm sparring in the gym and people come down to watch me spar, there's always pressure. "I feel like it wouldn't be a normal fight if there wasn't pressure at this point. I just have to learn to deal with it. "But I'm not here to look up to anybody. I'm here to do the best I can do so when you look at it like that, there isn't really that much pressure on me because I'm here to do the best that Tommy can do, not anybody else. "However I'm going to box, I'm going to box. And I'm sure it's going to be good enough." Son to John Fury and cousin to both Andy Lee and Hughie Fury, Tommy has fighting in his blood but he has credited his big brother with having the most significant impact on his career. "Without Tyson I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today and I thank Tyson for it," he continued.

"It's maximum motivation, isn't it? Looking at someone who's been brought up the same way as you and he's gone on to achieve such great things. "It's taught me that if I just stay dedicated, stay loyal and keep my feet on the ground then it's possible to accomplish anything." Fury is now training under Ricky Hatton at his gym in Hyde and is definitely in peak physical condition as he transitions into the professional realm. https://twitter.com/BTSportBoxing/status/1075151710463639553 Following in the footsteps of the Furys before him, Tommy insists that it was something of an inevitability that he would find himself fighting for a living. "My dad did it in the past. He was a professional boxer. My brothers and cousins do it and I believe that it was always going to come out of me," he said. "I couldn't help it. Boxing is almost like a disease in a way and once you catch the bug, you're hooked. "I've grown into it. Ever since I was a young kid, from the age of three or four putting gloves on for the first time and I've never looked back. I've always wanted to do it and there's never been any other thoughts."