“Problem Child” began his pro boxing career with a pair of knockout victories in 2020, but it was his third fight against former Bellator and ONE Championship titleholder Ben Askren that really solidified his profile in the sport. Paul knocked out the UFC veteran in the first round before securing a pair of victories against former UFC champion Tyron Woodley later that year, which led to easily the biggest fight of his career when he defeated UFC legend Anderson Silva via unanimous decision.

Paul dropped a split decision to Fury when the two met in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, and the 26-year-old was recently asked to detail what he’d learned from that first loss while speaking to unbeaten UFC middleweight Bo Nickal.

“I think the biggest thing – like you said – is growth,” Paul answered. “These things happen and the universe always has a plan. And I’m glad that it happened to me at this point in my life. It’s a reality check beyond just the sport. Already I see why this was written in my web of life. That’s a beautiful thing, because a lot of time things happen in life and you don’t realize why until like a f***ing decade later or some s***…I lost, and it was because of ‘xyz’ mistakes outside of the ring, and my team and all these different things that now I was able to change and learn from all of those mistakes to get better now.”

Jake Paul Feels He Was “Comfortable” Before Loss To Tommy Fury

Starting your pro boxing career at 6-0 with wins over some major combat sports figures could understandably instill an overwhelming amount of confidence in a fighter, and that’s exactly why Paul feels his loss to Fury was actually a positive thing.