Fury is at last set to meet Paul in the ring – on Sunday in Saudi Arabia – having twice pulled out in the past due to injury and US visa issues.
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The 2019 Love Island star prepared for the rescheduled grudge match in Bolton, at Alex Matvienko’s Elite Boxing Gym.
And they welcomed in bare-knuckle boxing veteran Christie, who was so convinced by what he saw he whacked a wager on Fury to beat Paul.
But he warned the 8-0 prospect to box smart and not let his heart rule his head with tensions running high in the celebrity boxing rivalry.
Christie told SunSport: “I’ve put a nice bet on him down at the bookies, I’m very confident he’ll get the win.
“But in my opinion, with this becoming a very personal affair he may become overzealous, he may – and I hope he doesn’t – go looking for the knockout.
“Once it turns into a firefight it’s anybody’s game and Jake Paul is a powerful lad as we know.
“But for me, the keys for victory for Tommy are just using his good boxing, using his good fundamentals, doubling and tripling up that jab.
“A lot of feints, a lot of movement and just busting him up over the first few rounds and just getting him frustrated and marking him up.
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“I think Tommy can win quite easily if he sticks to his fundamentals but like I said, if it turns into a firefight, who knows? It’s anyone’s game.”
Christie was pleasantly surprised with Fury’s boxing fundamentals, revealing: “He nullified a lot of things that I like to do.
“I like to stand my ground and let them do the hard work but Tommy’s footwork was superior to mine.
“He had me doing all the things I don’t like to do, I was overarching, overextending, leaving my feet behind and he was making me pay.
“Any counters that I could get off, I was only landing single shots really, I couldn’t put anything together.
“He was quite elusive, when I landed one punch he was out of the way for the second, he was making me miss a lot.”
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Paul has beaten ex-MMA champions in Ben Askren, 38, Tyron Woodley, 40, and Anderson Silva, 47, in the past two years.
But Fury, 23, will be the first opponent with a recognised boxing record that the YouTuber-turned prizefighter has faced.
And Christie believes Fury can make easy work of Paul if he sticks to a box-and-move game plan.
He said: “For whatever it’s worth, I think Tommy boxes the head off him.
“I think if Tommy sticks to his footwork and his jab with good fundamentals and keeps him long, and looking to set punches up after busting him up for a couple of rounds, I think he can get the job done quite easily.
“He could have him overextending and overreaching, he could have him down, he could have him stopped.
“But ultimately, I think Tommy wins on points.”
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