Jake Paul explains why he ‘thanked’ boxing nemesis Tommy Fury for beating him

Five months after losing his first boxing match to nemesis Tommy Fury, Jake Paul has explained why he is grateful for his defeat.

YouTuber gone professional boxer, Jake Paul is no stranger to being open and candid about his career and opinions of opponents.

He’s made millions, he’s spent millions, and he’s had nearly a million people tune into his previous boxing match with Tommy Fury, as their eight-round cruiserweight match reached over 800,000 viewers.

Though his first boxing defeat against Fury was a loss he was never willing to face, Paul has now unexpectedly acknowledged Fury just five months after the fact to thank the 9-0 boxer for beating him.

Jake Paul says Tommy Fury fight was a “reality check”

With 12 days until his fight with Nate Diaz, Jake Paul, who is 6-1, has taken time to reflect on his most recent boxing match with Tommy Fury.

Both Paul and Fury were undefeated when they faced each other in Saudi Arabia on February 26, so the outcome of the match was a highly anticipated arrival for not only the contenders but viewers as well.

After eight hefty rounds, Fury ended up defeating Paul in a split decision. Paul’s initial response after the fight was to give “all respect to Tommy,” so it’s no surprise that he’s manifested that same gratitude in his recent thanks to his opponent for beating him. 

Now, in a recent discussion with UFC middleweight Bo Nickal, Paul has opened up about his thoughts on his defeat against Fury, saying, “I think the biggest thing – like you said – is growth. These things happen and the universe always has a plan. And I’m glad that it happened to me at this point in my life. It’s a reality check beyond just the sport.”

Paul continued to explain how more often than not, people don’t see the bigger picture of why things happen in their life, good or bad. He then gave light on how he was able to change his training and mindset after his loss, saying, “I lost, and it was because of ‘xyz’ mistakes outside of the ring… now, I was able to change and learn from all of those mistakes to get better.”

He also went into saying that his Fury defeat taught him lessons unforeseen, saying, “That was the whole problem, is me winning, putting all these people on the canvas. Knockout of the Year…all this money and s**t. And so you get comfortable, and there were so many lessons in the loss that — and so many things that I needed to change, that now I’ve done that and learned from to make me a better man and a better fighter.”

Paul then ended his talk with Nickal thanking Fury, saying, “[a]nd so I thank Tommy Fury for beating me.”

Paul’s next match against the 15-year UFC vet, Diaz, will be on August 5.