Jake Paul full of excuses after loss to Tommy Fury

Welcome to the Winner’s Circle, a weekly column by Bet For The Win senior writer Prince J. Grimes.

For the first time in his short boxing career, Jake Paul took an L.

The YouTube star lost to Tommy Fury by split decision Sunday in a mini upset according to oddsmakers who had Paul as a slight favorite despite his limited experience.

There won’t be any shame for Paul losing a close fight to the half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury who entered the ring with an undefeated record of his own. But Paul (6-1) should be ashamed of the excuses he made for why he lost to Fury (9-0).

I hope no-one actually followed through on that advice, because not only did Paul lose as the -125 favorite, he revealed after the fight several ailments he battled during camp.

“Honestly, I felt flat. I got sick really bad twice in this camp, injured my arm. So, it wasn’t my best performance,” Paul said. “But I lost. I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying it wasn’t my best performance. I felt a little flat.”

I don’t know, Jake. Those sound exactly like excuses to me. Very bad excuses that, if true, were probably worth considering before telling people to bet large sums of money.

I understand part of being a great boxer is being a great salesman, and Paul has the latter part mastered. He even made his own bet during the heated pre-fight press conference to double Fury’s earnings with a win.

But Paul isn’t your typical boxer. Paul is the owner of a sports betting platform called Betr, and he has considerable sway with a young audience that might just bet on something because he says so. That was a point of contention during his awkward interview with Bomani Jones.

Boxers are supposed to project confidence, but Paul’s very specific choice of betting terminology seemed intentional — and irresponsible. We’ll never know just how much his bold prediction played into the final betting stats, but the public hammered his odds at BetMGM. A whopping 76% of the money wagered on the fight was on Paul, and 57% of the bets.

Paul’s brother Logan even joined in on the bold betting talk, saying he’d bet his equity in Prime (energy drinks) on Jake getting a win.

Rapper Drake, who might be more friend than fan of Paul, actually did bet the equivalent of a mortgage — on a very nice home — losing $400,000 on Paul.

And they weren’t the only influencers peddling confidence in Fury through a sports betting lens.

In the end, everyone lost except Fury.

But even in taking an L, Paul comes out a winner because he earned two very good pay days: the one on Sunday and the inevitable rematch down the road. Hopefully, the public doesn’t fall for the shenanigans next time.