JAKE PAUL claimed Tommy Fury “didn’t win” their fight – and listed a number of reasons why he felt he had “lost it”.
Fury returned home from Saudi Arabia with bragging rights and his unbeaten record intact after edging the celebrity grudge match on points.
But Paul has come out swinging in defence of his first ever loss, insisted the result was solely down to his own shortcomings in the ring.
He said on his brother Logan’s podcast: “Tommy didn’t win the fight, I lost it.
“I was not good, I was not on my A-game. I didn’t implement the gameplan, my legs were weak going into the fight.
“I think I cut the weight improperly, in a seven-week camp where normally we do a 12-week camp.
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“We squeezed in this camp, but I don’t want to sit here and make excuses. I lost the fight, I wasn’t at my best and it’s that simple.”
Paul, 26, saw a point deducted in round five due to punches in the back of the head.
Fury, 23, was also docked a point in the sixth for holding and was floored in the final round but still won a split decision.
Paul stepped up to face a recognised professional boxer for the first time in his seven-bout career and admitted he felt the occasion.
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He said: “I think a little bit of pressure is good but I had a lot of pressure and the stakes kept getting higher and higher each fight.
“Now there is definitely more relaxation going into the next one. A lot of things played into the [loss], even getting a point deducted in the beginning of the fight.
“I don’t know, it’s the hardest sport in the world and you have to have a peak moment.
“You’re only able to show up in that one moment on that one night. Whatever you’re feeling then you can’t really fake it.
“I was flat, very very flat. I beat him like eight to nine times out of ten, this just happened one of those times. He stepped up to the plate.”
Paul is set to exercise his rematch clause amid rumours of a sequel after the first fight sold around 775,000 pay-per-views.
He said: “I don’t see where there is not a reason to run it back at some point.
“The business side of it was massive, it was one of the biggest events in boxing in recent years. It’ll probably be the biggest fight of this year, it’s massive.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
