I still haven’t been able to fully wrap my head around it all,” the 21-year-old University of Alabama student tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Just the fact that I’ll go on Snapchat or something and all the news stories have my face in front of them…It’s the weirdest mind game to me.”
Thomas — who says she will return to the ring for a “bunch” of upcoming fights with Paul’s company Most Valuable Promotions — recalls the motivational message the 27-year-old boxing champ (who defeated Tyson in the Nov. 15 match) relayed to her before she went viral.
“I talked to him at the fight and he was just like, ‘Keep doing your thing,’ ” Thomas shares, adding that Paul told her she was “doing a great job” in the ring at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
And after her fame skyrocketed last month, Thomas said she’s been getting an “overwhelming” amount of DMs on social media in a post thanking fans for their support.
Thomas tells PEOPLE those DMs have come from all kinds of accounts. “There’s everything, anything from blue check marks to random people,” she spills.