Jake Paul is returning to the ring. The 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer will compete in his first match since losing to Tommy Fury in February. Paul’s next opponent will be UFC star Nate Diaz, and the match will take place on Saturday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The event will start at 8 p.m. ET and air on pay-per-view and ESPN+.
Paul won his first six pro boxing matches before losing to Fury via split decision. Per ESPN, Paul made some changes to his team, adding trainers Theo Chambers and International Boxing Hall of Famer “Sugar” Shane Mosley. After the match against Fury, Paul said that he would love to face Fury again.
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“All respect to Tommy – he won,” Paul said in the ring during his post-fight interview, per MMA Junkie. “And don’t judge me by my wins. Judge me by my losses. I’ll come back. I think we deserve that rematch. It was a great fight, a close fight. I don’t know if I agree with the judges. I got a 10-8 round – twice. So, it is what it is. … This is definitely a humbling experience. I’ll take it on the chin. Get back in the gym and we can run it back.”
In the meantime, Paul will take on Diaz who will be competing in his first pro boxing match. Diaz has been criticized for not prompting the fight as much as Paul, and he didn’t help himself after walking out of a face-to-face interview with Paul on DAZN Boxing.
“For my own pleasure, I like to fight people where it’s rowdy because it’s more entertaining for the fans. It’s not as fun if there’s not as much s— talk and funny moments leading up to the fight,” Paul said during the interview, per Mirror. “That’s why I do this, for my own joy and passion for this game. So it is disappointing for myself.
“Nate has a massive name, he is a massive pay-per-view draw of UFC times. To me, that’s exciting because I haven’t fought a massive pay-per-view draw in the prime of their career when they’re still hot and active. There was this beef and online banter back and forth that we’ve been trying and wanting to fight for a long time.”
