Jake Paul suffered the first loss of his fledgling boxing career as he was edged out by Tommy Fury at Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah Arena.

Fury, a British reality TV star, scored a split decision win against the American YouTuber.

Watched by luminaries such as Fury’s half-brother and current WBC heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, former champion Mike Tyson and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul’s considerable shortcomings were highlighted as Fury picked him off over eight rounds.

“Tonight I made my own legacy, I made my own legacy,” Fury said after the bout

“All the way through these two-and-a-half years, I had a dream, a vision, and no-one believed me. Now they can stand up and take note.”

Fury had the better of the opening exchanges but Paul began to settle in the third as he tried to lure his opponent forward and counter with big right hands.

In a bout short on technical quality, Paul had a point deducted in the fifth round for a blow to the back of Fury’s head, but Fury had a point chalked off for holding in the sixth to even things up again.

A short left hand downed Fury in the eighth and final round to shift the momentum in Paul’s favour to set up a grandstand finish in which both men chased a knockout punch that never materialised.

“All respect to Tommy, he won, don’t judge me by my wins, judge me by my losses,” Paul said in the ring as his boxing record slipped to six wins and one loss.

“I’ll come back, I thought I deserve that rematch, it was a great fight, a close fight.”

Reuters