Jake Paul reveals the toughest opponent he has fought – and it’s not Tommy Fury

Tommy Fury is, to date, the only man to have defeated Jake Paul during his 11-fight professional boxing career (10-1).

But ‘The Problem Child’ doesn’t believe he was his toughest opponent.

That distinction is reserved for UFC icon Nate Diaz, whom he squared off with in August 2023, one fight after falling to a split decision loss against Fury.

Speaking after the clash, Paul said: “I was just having fun and that was the missing ingredient in my last fight.

“Now I am having fun back on that side of things and Nate was the toughest opponent I’ve fought to date.”

Obviously, Paul’s last three opponents: Andre August, Ryan Bourland and Mike Perry can’t be factored into his assessment due to the timing of the statement.

However, it is unlikely that any of them would come into the conversation, considering all three were blasted out with relative ease.

Unlike August, Perry and Bourland, Diaz made it through to see the final bell, although it wasn’t a particularly competitive fight.

The Stockton MMA star came on strong in the later rounds but lost by wide margins of 97-92, 98-91 and 98-91 on the judges’ scorecards.

Paul has mostly competed in eight rounders but his showdown with Diaz was contested over ten rounds.

This may explain why Paul found this fight the hardest, given that he was tiring in the last couple of frames.

“One thing I took from it was the confidence I can do ten rounds with non-stop power-punching, that’s a great experience,” he added.

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“Just getting more and more comfortable in the ring, learning to box and slow things down.

“I knew he was trying to take breaks so I would bounce on him when he would do that.”

Diaz and Paul made overtures to run back their fight in MMA, but nothing has come to fruition as of yet.

Paul insists he accepted the fight but then received nothing back from Diaz’s side.

“I don’t know if I’d use the word close,” Paul told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when asked about the match-up.

“I think there was a point where there was genuine interest from his team in making it happen, and then there was just radio silence after that.

“Then he’s calling it the P**** FL and all this stuff. It’s like, OK, bro, you either want to make this happen or not.”

For now, Paul is preparing to face champion Mike Tyson in a controversial professional heavyweight clash on November 15.

The fight has been widely bashed by members of the boxing fraternity due to the 31-year age gap between the pair.

Tyson is 58 years old and hasn’t competed in the paid ranks since his stoppage loss to Kevin McBride in 2005, while Paul is in his physical prime at 27 years old and has been actively competing in professional boxing for four years.

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