Jake Paul is still processing the first loss of his boxing career after dropping a split decision to Tommy Fury.
The social influencer turned boxer didn’t get dominated by any stretch of the imagination but he still dealt with some difficulties in the fight, particularly with Fury’s jab and overall output with nearly double the punches landed over eight rounds.
Looking back at the fight, Paul says Fury didn’t do anything that caught him off guard but he just couldn’t do enough to get the job done.
“He wasn’t that great, at all,” Paul said on his podcast. “I think Anderson [Silva] was tougher than him. I figured out that puzzle. He threw a lot of punches, that was his biggest thing.”
Paul did manage a late knockdown on Fury in the final round but it still wasn’t enough to help him secure the victory as his record drops to 6-1 overall. Meanwhile, Fury moved to 9-0 and even though the outcome wasn’t what he wanted, Paul admits he was actually happy for his opponent afterwards.
“I have respect for the kid,” Paul said. “I think that’s the most beautiful thing about this sport. You can be arch enemies and then find respect for each after beating the s*** out of each other and going to war. It’s definitely really cool.
“I’m happy for him for sure. Just seeing him cry because I’ve been there, going through all the adversity and then the win meaning everything. Definitely happy for him.”
Mutual respect aside, Paul is already working towards a rematch with Fury stating he’s definitely interested in running it back as well.
According to Paul, the rematch also makes the most sense financially for both fighters after he touted potentially huge returns on pay-per-view sales for the event.
Despite airing on ESPN+ pay-per-view during the afternoon hours in the United States due to the event happening in Saudi Arabia, Paul believes the final tallies will make his fight with Fury one of the biggest selling cards of the year.
“I guess the silver lining is that the pay-per-views are off the charts,” Paul said. “Probably going to be the biggest fight of the year. It’s going to be hard to contend with. Maybe [Ryan] Garcia and [Gervonta] Davis.
“It’s probably coming at over half a million buys. Still totaling everything. So the business is great.”
Garcia and Davis are scheduled to meet in April, which may end up as a very profitable pay-per-view for boxing, although Conor McGregor returning in the UFC might trump that fight and Paul vs. Fury when his matchup against Michael Chandler finally takes place.
Because ESPN+ only reports total number of subscribers to the service, the full details on sales of the pay-per-view will be difficult to figure but Paul definitely seems happy with what he’s been told thus far.
Assuming the totals are as high or possibly even higher than what Paul expects, that makes a rematch with Fury even bigger.
While other matchups could be available to him — including a potential showdown with ex-UFC fighter Nate Diaz or fellow social influencer KSI — Paul seems intent on the rematch with Fury later this year.
“Obviously, there’s still so many names out there for me to fight,” Paul said. “I want to do the rematch with Tommy but I think all of those fights are still there and still massive.
“I think the rematch [is next]. I’ve got to go get that back. Run it back.”