Jake Paul has vowed to enact his rematch clause with Tommy Fury after losing a split decision in their long-awaited fight in Saudi Arabia.
Fury edged the bout in Riyadh’s Diriyah Arena after winning over two of the three judges following a closely fought eight rounds. Both men were docked points during the middle rounds and Paul even managed to earn a knock down in the eighth, but Fury did enough to win on points.
The fight followed two postponements and a lot of trash talk across two and a half years, and Fury was overcome with emotion afterwards as he celebrated his triumph.
“Everybody thought I was running scared,” he said, referring to the times he had to have the fight rearranged. “Tonight, I made my own legacy: I am Tommy Fury. I want to dedicate this fight to my new baby girl Bambi at home, and my Mrs. I love you.”
YouTuber-turned-boxer Paul questioned the result and urged Fury to “run it again”.
“All respect to Tommy, he won,” the American said. “Don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses.
“I don’t know if I agree with the judges – I got a 10-8 round twice. But I’ve already won in life. I’ve made it further than I ever thought I would, and beyond. This is definitely a humbling experience.”
Paul added that he was sick during his training camp and injured his arm, but said: “I’m not making excuses, I lost.”
It would not be surprising to see the pair in the ring again, given the financials involved.
Paul’s fight purse was around $3.2m, but he also took home 65 per cent of the pay-per-view money, taking his overall prize money to $8.6m including sponsorships. Fury reportedly received a $2m purse and 35 per cent of the PPV share, totalling a take-home fee of around $4.5m.
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