If Paul wants to continue competing, it might be best for him to hold off on challenging Tommy Fury right away.
Jake Paul declared in the ring that he would “100%” want to invoke his rematch clause to have another chance at Tommy Fury after suffering his first loss in a boxing ring. It was a statement that made sense. Paul had fought well over the course of the eight rounds, and one of the three official scorecards even gave him the victory. Away from the heat of the moment, though, the idea of leaping right back into the ring with Fury may not be Paul’s greatest option.
Paul was undoubtedly very hurt by the defeat. Fighting Fury was both an effort to respond to accusations that he had never faced a “real boxer” and a genuine rivalry fight, as the two men had traded insults for almost two years prior to their actual fight.
Paul will be devastated to lose, even after landing the fight’s lone knockdown, and he will now have to deal with even more criticism and claims that his boxing career was always a fraud and was based on fighting amateurs and retired mixed martial artists.
Fury is somewhat of a restricted fighter himself, which only helps to raise more doubts about Paul’s boxing career’s long-term viability. Even with his limitations, Fury is still a lot better than the competition many outstanding amateur boxers—Paul not included—face in their seventh professional fight.
Don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses. Congratulations to Tommy, his family, and his team. I appreciate everyone that watched. Also thank you, Saudi Arabia. I will be back.
— Jake Paul on February 27, 2023 (@jakepaul)
For comparison’s sake, Tony Duran, who entered the bout 12-15-1 and on a 0-9-1 streak, was Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s eighth opponent. 1-3 Paulino Gonzalez, who later retired with a 2-18 record, fought Shane Mosley.
Paul never had the same ceiling as those individuals, but he did take a big chance by going up against someone who was on par with him and had spent a lot more time in the boxing gym. Although that gamble did not pay off, it must still be taken into consideration when figuring out how Paul may recover from his initial setback.
Although Paul still has to make a significant decision regarding the direction his combat career will go, there is probably still money to be made by continuing to enter the ring.
Paul will probably want to invoke the rematch clause and fight Fury once again out of pride and competitiveness. On Sunday, however, Fury was the superior boxer by a wide margin. Fury only needed to use his jab to prevent Paul from relaxing into the fight, despite the fact that Paul had his own moments of success and didn’t appear to be completely out of his element.
The Paul money train would undoubtedly come to an end if Fury suffered a second defeat. And given that the late Paul knockdown was caused more by a jab throwing Fury off balance than it was by showing that his power had actually harmed Fury, Fury would be a clear favorite in the rematch.
Paul still has a lot of lucrative alternatives besides facing Fury again. One, though, stands out as the most popular box office draw and the option that would demonstrate that Paul’s focus has completely changed away from his repeated ambitions to become a professional championship-level boxer and entirely toward the world of entertainment.
It has been talked about for about as long as both men have been focusing on boxing, a matchup with fellow social media sensation turned fighter KSI. KSI was quick to celebrate Paul’s defeat on social media.
KSI also holds a 2019 split decision win over Logan Paul, Jake’s brother. That adds another level of animosity, but in order to completely accept the legitimacy of their mutual antipathy, one must disregard the fact that KSI and Logan also jointly operate Prime sports drink.
Like KSI vs. Logan Paul, KSI vs. Jake Paul is a high-profile match. The Staples Center in Los Angeles sold 12,000 tickets for that battle, which attracted numerous famous people and generated curiosity throughout the globe.
After the fight with Logan Paul, KSI co-founded the Misfits Boxing promotion and competed in a few exhibition matches. On August 27, he defeated 2-5 professional boxer Luis Alcaraz Pineda as well as British entertainer Swarmz. As Dillon Danis withdrew from the fight, which was set to take place on January 14, KSI was left to dispatch of YouTuber and esports star FaZe Temperrr.
Paul must now decide between two options. The first provides the greatest risk but also the greatest opportunity for him to keep trying to establish himself as a respectable boxer. The other fight—against a different “personality” like KSI—is simpler and pays well, but it essentially signals the end of Paul’s pursuit of becoming a more accomplished professional boxer.
The first match with Fury was dubbed “The Truth,” but the real truth might be in the path Paul takes after his first loss.
