'I ended up in a car park boxing match being refereed by my hero Tommy Fury' - Wolverhampton mogul
A Wolverhampton businessman is going viral after videos of him fighting in a car park in a boxing match refereed by reality TV star Tommy Fury were uploaded to social media.
Professional boxer Tommy Fury, brother of former world champion Tyson Fury, can be seen stopping the bout with Samuel Leeds on safety grounds due to fears one of the fighters could injure themselves on the concrete ground.
Footage of the impromptu fight, which took place in a hotel car park, is on its way to going viral attracting thousands of views on social media within 48 hours.
Samuel Leeds, aged 33, runs an academy for property investors and was delighted when Fury turned up unannounced to one of his company's monthly dinners.
Tommy is the half-brother of former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury and is a hero of Samuel after the businessman took up the noble art last year for a charity bet.
Mr Leeds beat his arch business rival Rob Moore in a challenge fight which resulted in the loser having to donate £200,000 to charity, and has carried on boxing since.
Mr Leeds said: “Tommy’s a friend of Ricci Mandal who is one of the trainers and mentors in my team. Tommy came onto the stage to share how to have a winning mindset and the heart of a champion with 500 of my students.
“During the evening Ricci and I were involved in a bit of banter about which of us would win in the ring. Tommy suggested we step outside to find out.”
The pair sparred with each other in the car park of Heathrow’s Thistle Hotel, with Fury acting as the referee. After a while he stepped in to break up the action.
“Tommy was really responsible. At one stage he was worried it was getting out of hand. We weren’t wearing gum shields and could have fallen onto concrete. He stepped in and put a stop to it. I guess it must have been a pretty bizarre sight."
Mr Leeds has 461,000 followers on YouTube alone and might have been in a fighting mood after Labour's landslide as one of his last videos featured the millionaire ranting that "everyone will always be broke" under the new administration.
His students are used to seeing celebrity guests at academy events. However, Tommy Fury’s appearance came as a massive surprise.
He said: “It made my night too as, although I’ve followed him for a long time and spoken to him on the phone, this was the first time we’ve met. Tommy just turned up without charging a fee and was a brilliant guest to have in the room.”
Mr Leeds, who attended Walsall’s Emmanuel School, is currently converting the historic Eagle Works in Wolverhampton city centre into luxury flats.
He revealed that meeting Tommy had been on his wish list for years and that he is soon to repay the favour.
"I asked him what his favourite movie is, and he said The Wolf of Wall Street which I suspected because I know he’s a big fan of Jordan Belfort whose memoirs the film is based on.
“I’m meeting Jordan Belfort in October, so I’ve arranged for Tommy to come along as well. It’s amazing because he’s my hero, and now I’m arranging for him to meet his. He was over the moon about that!”
Two other celebrities, TV Gladiator Zack George and ex Liverpool midfielder Kevin Stewart also attended the dinner.
“Kevin Stewart started his property journey with us, and Zack has done online training with us. I think Tommy’s appearance was a nice surprise for them too.”