Jake Paul has opened up about what he believes was his 'biggest mistake' heading into his brutal loss to Anthony Joshua.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer was knocked out in the sixth round of their highly anticipated fight at the Kaseya Center in Miami, on December 19 - but he's since admitted he underestimated just how much preparation he needed before stepping into the ring with the former heavyweight champion.
The bout left the 28-year-old with a broken jaw in two places, but despite the painful ending, Paul has been reflecting on the experience and where it all went wrong.
Speaking on his brother Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, 'The Problem Child' described the moment the fight began to slip away from him.
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"It was just mental. It was just like him imposing his will on me, and being massive, and the big shots landing,” he explained. “Then yeah, it pretty much all goes downhill from there.”
However, Paul said the real issue started long before fight night.
He continued: "But I wish I had more than three weeks, I think, to prepare [I could have] maybe have like put on some more muscle to be able to like sit there and hit him and then I should have gone to altitude to train - that was my biggest mistake.”
While he felt confident at the time, Paul admitted his training camp wasn’t ideal.
"I felt good about it, yeah. But I mean, I just needed to have that extra level of cardio for this and that only can come from going to altitude," he explained.
Before going on to say: "No, I mean just because like I was weighing like 200 pounds when we confirmed the fight and then I had to gain more weight. But I mean, yeah, man, it’s a great experience overall to be in there with someone who’s that good - I learned a lot and I see where I could have done better, so I’m a little disappointed, but I also know how good he is."
Despite being knocked down multiple times before the stoppage - which from a boxing fan's point-of-view the way he took a knee after each punch Joshua landed was hard to watch - Paul insists he had moments of success.
"But I had him wobbled at one point. I had him wobbled, but he kept his hands up better this fight," he added.
After the fight, Paul was seen spitting blood and later confirmed the extent of his injuries.
"Anthony’s a great fighter, I got my ass beat, but that’s what this sport’s about," he said at the time. "I think my jaw is broken by the way."
Joshua, meanwhile, praised Paul’s toughness, saying: "He got up time and time again. It takes a real man to do that."
Topics: Anthony Joshua, Boxing, Jake Paul
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