"I made a lot of mistakes" - Tyson Fury's cousin criticised despite winning on professional boxing debut

James Dean Fury drew criticism despite securing a laboured victory on his professional boxing debut.

The 20-year-old, who is the cousin of former two-time heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury, made his competitive debut with a bout against the experienced Dzmitry Atrokhau over the weekend.

Fury has signed a promotional deal with BOXXER and was named on the undercard of Callum Simpson vs Troy Williamson 2 on Saturday night.

The main event saw Simpson reclaim the British and Commonwealth super-middleweight titles by unanimous decision and avenge the only loss of his career.

Before that, Fury managed to just get the better of Atrokhau, in a lethargic display against a journeyman fighter who hasn't won a professional bout in eight years.

Fury tried to switch stances during the fight as he struggled to break down his 38-year-old opponent. His corner grew increasingly frustrated with every round that passed and were furious when he was hit by four unanswered blows in the third round.

It was a warning that Fury couldn't be complacent as he was nearly flattened by his unfancied competitor. “Are your hands broken? Why can’t you put a hard punch together? He’s wide open," Fury Sr shouted at him in the corner.

"Catch his shots, open him up. I want to see some straight shots down the middle, do you understand.

"Listen, you could beat this fella with one arm, put your shots together and let’s see some quality punches.”

Although much of the fight was controlled by the experienced Atrokhau, Fury managed to hold on for a 60-54 victory on the scorecard.

It was a valuable learning curve for the debutant, who believes the occasion got the better of him and contributed towards his poor overall performance.

"Me in the gym and at my best, no disrespect to him but he shouldn't have touched me," Fury told DAZN after his win.

"What happened is I went out there, got hyped up and got carried away. It is what it is.

"I made a lot of mistakes, I'm confident. I believe I can tidy things up. There was a couple of things I did well.

"But 90 per cent of things I did wrong. At least I've been in there now and made them mistakes so I know what not to do next time."