He never said he would've won.
Arguably what he said was worse: he's lamenting a battle that went too far while simutaneously bragging that if he had participated he would have...gone too far as well. The problem is that he DID participate. You can't get on a high horse about this shyt when you've been involved since the jump. We can go beyond Like That too. This is the same dude who was so bothered by Control that he dropped an emotional response (TKO) and then tried to replicate Control a year later (Note To Self) with the same 'name dropping but it's not a diss" approach, while also claiming that the entire idea of a "crown" was so corrosive he had to kill it. Fine. Cool. If that's where the story ended. Instead he picked that shyt up again a few years later on some rap exercise shyt, focusing entirely on proving he was the best rapper and taking subs at Drake and Kendrick lol.
My point is simple: Cole's entire career is an example of overthinking into paralysis. From his first album onwards he has multiple interviews or moments where he has described a truly convoluted, tortured process of making music where he thinks he's going to do one thing, then wonders what [insert person or group] thinks about it, so he goes another route until he fears that [insert xyz] misunderstanding may occur so he changes route. Fast forward to a few months ago...this is how a nikka goes from dropping the first OFFICIAL diss song of the entire battle to tossing and turning in his sleep so much that he decided to bow out a battle, apologize, and tell another man to take his best shot and he'll take it on the chin.
You know we're right Splitz. Hell you were agreeing with us a few weeks/months ago. But now your boy back outside with some more rappity rap verses and you want to defend him again. Nah. It's over for Cole on this front. I don't want to hear not one more verse, noun, verb or sentence from this nikka about being the best at anything. That shyt is OVER.