Ringside Seat – While Jake Paul fights Ben Askren, what’s his boxing future like?

Jake Paul’s young boxing career started with a fight with his own boxing career.

Last January, Paul made his professional debut against Ali Al Fakri, better known as AnEsonGib, a fellow YouTuber eager to participate in the spectacle. It took Paul 258 seconds to win from a stoppage.

Paul went from fighting a YouTuber to a former professional athlete – ex-NBA star Nate Robinson – and has now upgraded to a real combat fighter.

This Saturday, Paul will face former MMA fighter Ben Askren in Atlanta in a Triller pay-per-view event. Last week, a woman accused Paul of sexually assaulting her in 2019. Paul released a statement on Tuesday denying the claim.

Paul has quietly raised the level of his opposition in the ring, leading to a natural question: will Jake Paul ever get to the point of facing another professional boxer?

So far Paul’s events have been a spectacle. While in the ring last November, the 24-year-old knocked out Robinson and turned him into a meme on the undercard of an exhibition fight between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.

Askren, who will be making his professional boxing debut, is well versed in the fight – albeit with one big caveat. A former Bellator and One Welterweight Champion, Askren is known as a wrestler and has no history of showing the boxings to test Paul, which has proven to be a lucrative attraction. Paul is headlining the first fight event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the SEC championship game.

It’s the kind of achievement that matches Paul’s outspoken ambitions for the sport.

“I truly believe that I will become the world’s biggest low-cost fighter and the highest-paid low-cost fighter in the world,” said Paul in an ESPN piece published in January.

Both things don’t necessarily have to be facing better competition – and Paul has said that too.

“I don’t want to fight anymore unless it’s huge,” Paul told ESPN’s Marc Raimondi in January. “Every time Jake Paul fights, I want to have an electricity in the air that everyone can feel and that people have to tune in. I’m going to challenge myself, I’m going to find the right opponent and I’m going to stay active.”

If he’s fought, he’s trained seriously for each of his fights, with twice-a-day training and a rigorous regimen. And as long as Pauls continues to sell events, he will be able to avoid a formidable challenge. But if the Ohio native continues to dominate clearly inferior opposition, he might be a harder sell for casual fans looking for a little entertainment.

That could force him to raise the bar and cast some doubt about the outcome of his battles. If Paul continues boxing and continues to win, the sport will likely keep hooking up with the YouTuber in hopes of attracting new, younger fans. Paul is able to set up fights that people want to watch, something boxing often fails.

Should Paul knock Askren out and if the PPV sells well, don’t be shocked if Paul is back in the ring for another payday as another celebrity, athlete or former fighter is lined up to be next. But if the current trend continues, Paul could face a legitimate boxer if he wants to keep collecting big checks.

That may be the only thing that the turnstiles in the Jake Paul Circus experience

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Predictions

Jorge Masvidal, UFC Welterweight: [Askren] can’t deliver a punch, the man can’t spell ‘jab’. He doesn’t have what it takes to produce the power to hurt someone with his muscles. … In front of [Paul’s] size, he has good hand-eye coordination. Now I can say [Paul is] legit? When it hits the bag, it looks smooth. When he hits the pads he looks smooth, and while sparring he did some things that look good. But boxing is about fighting, so to what level is legitimate? Are you saying he fights with Zab Judah? No. He’s not going to beat Zab Judah. But is he going to beat the s — from Ben Askren? Legit as f —.

Ben does have experience. Ben can tire him out, maybe in the fourth or fifth round, Jake has never been to these areas. Things can happen. So long [Paul] sticks to what he knows and does what he has to do, I think he’s a much better athlete, and I think he naturally hits a lot harder than Ben. I think Jake beats him pretty easily.

Dana White, UFC President (on Mike Tyson’s Hot Boxin ‘podcast): Jake Paul isn’t a fucking boxer. I hope you can bet on this thing because I’m betting $ 1 million he’ll lose this fight. [Askren] is a decorated wrestler, but he actually fought real guys. He is a world champion in other organizations for MMA.

Timothy Bradley Jr., ESPN Boxing Analyst and Former World Champion: This guy Jake Paul is training extremely hard, I’m not going to lie. He doesn’t play around, but he has very limited experience. I have to go with Paul. He’s gonna do it to him, man. As soon as he goes to the body, this MMA guy goes down. He’s going to stop him from shooting to the body.

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Betting odds

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Regis Prograis to get back on track against Ivan Redkach

While all eyes are on the high-profile clash between Paul and Askren, the primary fight on the undercard is a junior welterweight clash between former world title Regis Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs) and Ivan Redkach (23-5-1). , 18 KOs), who has traveled the distance in entertaining fights against former world titles Tevin Farmer and Danny Garcia. Prograis recorded his first career loss in October 2019, when he lost a narrow majority decision to Josh Taylor in a game for the world title.

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Full map

• Jake Paul (2-0, 2 KOs) vs. Ben Askren (pro debut), 8 rounds, cruiserweights

• Regis Prograis (25-1, 21 KOs) vs. Ivan Redkach (23-5-1, 18 KOs), 10 rounds, junior welterweights

• Steve Cunningham (29-9-1, 13 KOs) vs. Frank Mir (pro debut), 8 rounds, heavyweights

• Joe Fournier (8-0, 8 KOs) vs. Andres Felipe Robledo Londono (pro debut), 6 rounds, light heavyweights

• Lorenzo Simpson (9-0, 5 KOs) vs. Francisco Emanuel Torres (16-3, 5 KOs), 8 rounds, middleweights

• Junior Younan (15-0-1, 10 KOs) vs. Jeyson Minda (14-4-1, 8 KOs), 8 rounds, super middleweights

• Quinton Randall (7-0, 2 KOs) vs. William Jackson (13-2-2, 5 KOs), 8 rounds, welterweights

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Liam Williams appears to be finishing his comeback

Liam Williams was on the brink of boxing’s top tier in April 2017 when he fought Liam Smith for the interim WBO junior middleweight title in Manchester, England. But the previously undefeated Williams suffered back-to-back losses to Smith, and thoughts of a world title fight became blurred.

But at that point in his career he woke up. And four years later, Williams will face Demetrius Andrade on Saturday in Hollywood, Florida, in his first real world title fight with the WBO middleweight world title at stake.

“After losing to Liam Smith, I realized I had to make changes and I’ve grown a lot more mature since then,” Williams told ESPN. “I moved from home to train, and everything has fallen into place ever since. In 2018 I made the switch to train with Dominic Ingle in Sheffield. [England]It was either making the change or packing up in boxing.

“Three weeks before the second Smith fight I was out and steaming drunk. There were other things involved, but I just thought this was a joke, I’m a joker and I have to get myself straight. turned around.

“Except living a better life and being in the gym with talented and hardworking people like [featherweight contender] Kid Galahad, a lot of it [knockout run of form] came from myself, because I am a bit more mature. It’s just a matter of growing up and growing up. – Nick Parkinson

More about Andrade-Williams

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Andrade-Williams in numbers

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18: Career knockouts for both Demetrius Andrade and Liam Williams, who entered their world title fight on Saturday. Andrade did it in 29 pro fights (all wins) while Williams did it in 26 (two losses, one draw)

443: Total number of days between title defenses for Andrade. He last fought on January 30, 2020, when he beat Luke Keeler via KO in the ninth round. Saturday’s fight against Williams will be Andrade’s fourth world title defense, after winning the vacant WBO title in October 2018. The other middleweight world titles are Gennadiy Golovkin (IBF), Ryota Murata (WBA) and Jermall Charlo (WBC).

8-0: Andrade’s career record in world title fights. He has 4 KOs in those eight fights. In addition to his current run at middleweight, Andrade previously held the WBO junior middleweight title and the WBA “regular” junior middleweight title.

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Betting odds

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Full map

• Title fight: Demetrius Andrade (29-0, 18 KOs) vs. Liam Williams (23-2-1, 18 KOs), 12 rounds, for Andrade’s WBO Middleweight title

• Carlos Gongora (19-0, 14 KOs) vs. Christopher Pearson (17-2, 12 KOs), 12 rounds, super middleweights

• Mahammadrasul Majidov (3-0, 3 KOs) vs. Andrey Fedosov (31-3, 25 KOs), 12 rounds, heavyweights

• Movladdin Biyarslanov (7-0, 6 KOs) vs. Israel Mercado (9-0, 7 KOs), 8 rounds, junior welterweights

• Otha Jones III (5-0-1, 2 KOs) vs. Jorge David Castaneda (13-1, 11 KOs), 8 rounds, lightweights

• Alexis Espino (7-0, 5 KOs) vs. Ty McLeod (6-0, 6 KOs), 6 rounds, middleweights

• Aaron Aponte (2-0, 1 KO) vs. Javier Martinez (4-7, 3 KOs), 4 rounds, junior welterweights