Jake Paul has claimed that his automatic rematch with Tommy Fury halted by his rival "getting a big head" during negotiations after their initial meeting.
Fury defeated Paul in the pair's highly-anticipated showdown at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia this February, but the American had an immediate rematch clause in his contract as the fight's A-Side. However, he has instead opted to face UFC legend Nate Diaz next, while it appears his rival will face KSI at some point this summer.
Paul had always claimed in the lead-up to his fight with Fury that he planned to face Diaz next, but it was expected that a loss had put a spanner in the works. However, he insists that he always wanted to go in that direction, even without getting his win back over Fury first.
"I think Nate Diaz was always the plans," Paul said during a media call to promote their August 5 bout. "I always said even in the Tommy Fury build-up that I wanted Nate Diaz after Tommy and that really was regardless of the outcome, I've always wanted to fight Nate Diaz.
"So he was always next on my list and I think there was always a bunch of options. Sometimes one day you're like 'I want to this or I want to do that'. But I think that I'm going back to the Nate Diaz idea as the original plan and he was ready and willing to make the fight happen and it just made more sense than the Tommy Fury rematch right away.
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"Tommy had a big head after the win, so he wants all this money and stuff like that. Which is fine, but he needs to be realistic because he is not the pay-per-view draw, right? If he fought this weekend nobody would really be watching and Nate Diaz was there, willing and able. And he's a way, way bigger PPV draw than Tommy Fury so from a business perspective it makes more sense."
Paul is likely to rematch Fury at some point, possibly as early as the end of this year, but it is expected that the Brit will first take on KSI in another crossover fight that veers further from his professional boxing goals. In the meantime, Paul's bout with Diaz is expected to be a major box office attraction, with over 60 per cent of tickets selling within the first week.
