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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Donagh Corby

Jake Paul's first opponent Deji believes he's five fights away from rematch with YouTube rival

YouTuber Deji believes he is just five fights away from earning a rematch with his first-ever opponent; Jake Paul.

The social media stars met in a white-collar bout at the Manchester Arena in August 2018 with Paul securing a fifth round stoppage.

Deji is the only opponent Paul couldn't put down, with the fight called off when the former's corner threw in the towel.

Since their fight, Deji has struggled to gain a foothold in the YouTube boxing world, losing his return fight to Vinnie Hacker last summer, while Paul has gone from strength to strength.

"That's the plan," Deji told Mirror Fighting about a possible rematch ahead of his homecoming fight with Alex Wassabi at the OVO Arena Wembley this weekend.

"I need to build up a portfolio, but who knows I might get another shot at redemption - I guess I'd need maybe five wins, potentially, we'll see though, nobody knows."

Deji wants a rematch with Jake Paul (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images for LivexLive)

Paul turned professional after the bout to fight fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, and has amassed a 5-0 record with four KOs, including wins over former UFC champion Tyron Woodley and Bellator champion Ben Askren.

And the Watford native, whose brother is rapper KSI, Deji admitshe has great respect for the successes that his former rival is having in the ring as a professional.

"Even if you hate Jake Paul, you have to respect what he's doing," he explained. "I don't hate him, but I hated him back then.

"As of now, not really because you grow up and everything but I have just nothing but respect for what he's doing.

"To get in the ring is one of the hardest things to do."

To get back to Paul, who is now one of the biggest drawing stars in professional boxing, Deji will first need to beat American Wassabi on Saturday night.

Will you be backing Deji on his return to the ring this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below

The California native has travelled across the pond to make his boxing debut after training for four years for a potential shot at his YouTube rival.

Both men have plunged hundreds of thousands of pounds into their camps for the bout, but the Brit believes that he has the upper hand given the work he has put in with a new camp after suffering back-to-back losses at the start of his career.

"My plan is to go to the deep end," he said. "A lot of people say my cardio is bad but what I want is to show what I've been doing and box.

"One punch can change the whole fight so I'm out here and nothing beats experience.

"Experience is the best teacher and my two fights are going to benefit me because he doesn't know what the ring walk is going to be like."

Tickets are on sale now at showstarboxing.com and via AXS for Showstar Boxing 2022, which will be headlined by Deji vs Alex Wassabi.

If you're outside of the UK, you can watch the fight on PPV via the Showstar website for £6.99.

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