Paul Blames Poor Performance On Illness, Arm Injury

Hear what Jake Paul had to say in the ring after losing a split decision to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia on Sunday night.

Jake Paul took the first loss on his boxing record on Sunday night, losing a close split decision to Tommy Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Two judges scored the fight 76-73 Fury while a third had it 75-74 Paul.

MMA Mania scored the fight 77-73 for Tommy Fury. Read our full round-by-round breakdown of the fight or watch the highlights here.

Immediately after the fight, a slightly dazed Jake Paul seemed to bounce back and forth between accepting the loss and challenging the results.

“All respect to Tommy, he won,” he said during an in-ring interview with Radio Rahim. “And don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses. I’ll come back. I think we deserve that rematch. It was a great fight, a close fight. I don’t know if I agree with the judges. I got a 10-8 round twice. So … it is what it is, but this is boxing.”

“And look, I’ve already won in life, I’ve already won. I’ve won in every single way. I have an amazing family, amazing friends, amazing work ethic. I’ve made it farther than I ever thought that I would, and beyond. So this is definitely a humbling experience, I’ll take it on the chin, get back in the gym, and we can run it back. Because I think we put on an amazing show for the fans tonight.”

Asked what he thought of his performance, Paul shrugged.

“Honestly I felt flat,” he said. “I got sick really bad twice in this camp. Injured my arm. So it wasn’t my best performance. But I lost. I’m not making excuses. I’m just saying it wasn’t my best performance. I felt a little flat. And like I said, we’re going to come back and get that W. Don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my loses. I’m gonna come back stronger.”

As for a rematch against Tommy Fury?

“100% let’s run it back,” he declared.

Tommy Fury’s post-fight speech was much more emotional and inspirational.

“For the past two and a half years, this is all that’s consumed my life,” he said, fighting back tears. “Broke rib, denied access [to the U.S.], and everybody thought I was running scared. Tonight, I built my own legacy. I am Tommy Fury.”

“All the way through these two and a half years, I had a dream, I had a vision I would win this fight, and no one believed me. Now I can stand up and everyone can take note. In the first main event, at 23 years old, I had the world on me, I had pressure on my shoulders, and I came through.”

Fury also agreed to a rematch.

“100%, this is my first main event, I’m only going to go stronger,” he declared. “I’m only going to go bigger, and I’m only going to go better. There’s a lot of nerves coming in here, I overrode that. If he wants a rematch, bring it on.”

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For complete “Paul vs. Fury” pay-per-view results and play-by-play, click HERE!