JAKE PAUL said losing to Tommy Fury has made his boxing career even more authentic and could even prolong it.
The YouTuber-turned prizefighter suffered defeat for the first time in February, falling victim to a split-decision in Saudi Arabia.
But Paul, 26, has been reinvigorated by the setback and revealed it has only extended his ambitions in the sport.
He said: “A lot of people in my position would’ve just gotten worse mentally or crumbled or gave up or went back and take an easy fight or a tune-up fight.
“This made me a boxer even more and to come back to prove myself and to learn and get better. I love this sport, I love everything about it.
“This reaffirmed my belief and almost made me sign this like contract that maybe wasn’t even signed yet with boxing, forever.
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“Because when I was winning and winning and winning, I was like, ‘Oh, I might just win a couple more fights and then retire.’
“But now I realise that I need this sport and I’m going to be here for a lot longer of a time period than I originally thought.”
Paul snubbed a rematch with Fury, 24, and will instead return on August 5 in Texas against ex-UFC star Nate Diaz, 38.
He dives right back into a box office blockbuster, to be aired on DAZN pay-per-view.
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And he will do so not only with a new mentality but also a fresh team.
Paul has rehired Shane Mosley as his coach after starting his career by winning his professional debut with the boxing legend.
Losing to Fury forced the American to re-evaluate who is truly in his corner when dealing and reflecting on the defeat.
Paul said: “It was intense, man. Lot’s of deep thoughts, lot’s of changes being made within the camp.
“Switching things up and having to revisit the drawing board and taking a look at everything; myself, my coaches, my friends, what went wrong.
“And that was definitely a lengthy process, it wasn’t necessarily the easiest to figure out and a lot of those answers weren’t fun.
“So there had to be a lot of these changes but it was a great reality check.
“It’s like I’m going around knocking pretty much everyone out or down to the canvas at least and making a bunch of money doing it.
“And you get kind of caught up in that and you can lose that hunger. And I didn’t even know I did.
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“I thought I still had that same hunger and motivation but it turns out in hindsight, I didn’t.
“Obviously, I’m new in this game and so there’s so much to learn and the weeks after were really some of the toughest moments of my life but the best now I’m able to look back at it in hindsight.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
