Who is Anthony Taylor, the MMA fighter who will take on Tommy Fury in a boxing match?
Tommy Fury is expected to fight Bellator star Anthony Taylor in his upcoming boxing match, per ESPN MMA's Marc Raimondi.
The bout will take place on the undercard of Jake Paul's pay-per-view fight with Tyron Woodley on August 29, 2021.
While Taylor has a fair amount of experience in the sport of MMA, he is taking baby steps towards establishing his professional boxing career.
The 30-year-old only has one professional boxing fight under his belt. Challenging Donte Stubbs on his debut in 2017, Taylor found himself on the wrong side of a split decision.
Taylor is also a sparring partner of Paul. Speaking to James Lynch about his experience trading blows with the YouTuber, Taylor said:
"Jake surprised me, he has done good... He's really decent for a guy who has just picked up boxing from being off the streets. After a year-and-a-half, two years of boxing, he has done pretty good for himself. You can see the hard work and dedication that he's putting into it. Can he be a professional boxer at cruiserweight? No. Can he go to Mexico and win a couple of smokers, and build his record? Yeah, absolutely. He’s a cub at the moment but he'll soon be a lion.”
Watch Anthony Taylor's full interview with James Lynch below:
What is Anthony Taylor's MMA record?
Anthony Taylor's professional MMA record stands at 7-5. After a slew of amateur fights, he was signed to Bellator in 2015. However, Taylor received a rude welcome in his first MMA promotion as he was submitted by Adin Duenas on his debut.
He then challenged Victor Jones at Bellator 154, and secured a stunning TKO victory in the first round. After that, he lost two consecutive fights, which forced Bellator to release him.
Following a string of victories in other MMA promotions, Bellator re-signed him last year. In January 2020, Anthony Taylor fought Chris Avila. He defeated the California native via majority decision.
Taylor is fighting Tommy Fury in a boxing match to give the Englishman a platform to prove himself, Jake Paul's adviser Nakisa Bidarian told ESPN.
"If (Tommy) Fury is dominant against (Anthony) Taylor, someone who is in there sparring with Jake (Paul), then Jake is 100% focused on fighting Fury after Woodley," said Bidarian.