JAKE PAUL has THANKED Tommy Fury for handing him his first loss.
The YouTuber-turned boxer suffered a split-decision defeat to Fury in Saudi Arabia in February.
But it sparked a complete overhaul in Paul's camp as he revamped his team with new coaches and schedules.
So when reflecting on the night he thought would never come, Paul is grateful for Fury beating him.
He said: "It’s interesting that a loss can give you more conviction on what it is that you’re supposed to be doing and what you’re here to do.
“It can actually reset you on a proper path and that’s exactly what it did for me.
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“Now I’m feeling better than ever, stronger than ever, in the best shape of my life, best team around me and I couldn’t be happier.
“That’s why I thank Tommy, I thank Tommy for winning. It put my life in the direction that it was supposed to be before and that is such a priceless thing."
Paul, 26, snubbed an immediate rematch with Fury, 24, to instead return against Nate Diaz, this weekend in Texas live on DAZN PPV.
The defeat in the Middle East proved a blockbuster success, with over 800,000 box office buys.
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But Paul predicts his comeback bout against ex-UFC star Diaz, 38, will top those numbers despite losing his unbeaten record.
He said: "After losing to Tommy I landed myself a bigger name and a bigger fight in terms of the ticket sales, the commercial pay-per-view.
“Everything is pointing towards this being the biggest event ever and I didn’t think that would be possible after losing to Tommy.
“So it’s interesting, I guess you can’t predict these things but I guess the number one thing is if people want to still see my fight then I’ll still have big fights.
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“It’s really the fanbase that drives me, right. It’s like Deontay Wilder losing a couple of times to Tyson Fury but everyone still wants to see him fight.
“It all just depends and it’s really how you go out. If you’re going to get knocked out but if you lose a split-decision and it’s a war and it’s a good fight, it’s a lot easier to come back from that.”
Paul still plans to rematch Fury but insisted the opportunity to finally fight Diaz was too good to pass up on.
He explained: “Nate has a massive name, he’s a massive pay-per-view draw of the UFC times and to me that’s exciting.
“I haven’t yet fought a massive pay-per-view draw in the prime of their career while they’re still hot and active.
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“So, to me that’s super exciting and there was that beef that was there and this online banter that was there back and forth that we’ve been trying to and wanting to fight for a long time.
“Then finally the stars aligned.”
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