YouTube sensation Jake Paul has been shocking the world of combat sports since he ventured into the sport of boxing early in 2018 with his first fight being against his fellow YouTuber Deji in which Paul sealed the win after five rounds.
The 24-year-old YouTuber made his professional boxing debut in 2020 against another YouTuber “AnEsonGib” and secured victory in the very first round via TKO. With a 2 – 0 record in boxing, Paul went to basketball player Nate Robinson who was his next target as a professional boxer. The two took each other on in the co-main event for Mike Tyson VS Roy Jones Jr. In that fight, the younger of Paul brothers secured a second-round TKO victory to establish himself as a real threat for his next opponents.
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In early 2021, Jake Paul announced that he will trade blows with Former Bellator MMA and ONE welterweight champion, Ben Askren. It was the first time Jake Paul was set to take on a professional athlete & while many doubted the YouTuber, the Cleveland native knew how to silence his doubters as he managed to knock down Askren in one minute and 59 seconds of the first round.
With that finish, he took his record to 3 – 0 and became one of the most talked-about combat sports athletes worldwide, and was ready to take on a professional boxer. There began his feud with Tyron Woodley who is a professional MMA star and former UFC Welterweight Champion who went on to defend his title four times in the UFC. Literally, everyone out there thought that this has got to be the end of Jake Paul’s win streak but no, the 24-year-old did not give up and trained hard to take on Woodley in a 10-round boxing fight.
This bout turned out to be one of THE most hyped PPV events in boxing and it certainly lived up to it. After 10 rounds, Jake Paul was awarded a split decision victory over Tyron Woodley with the judges scoring 78-74, 77-75, and 75-77 in favor of Paul. In the fight, Jake showed that he is strong enough to take on the big punches as Woodley’s only moment in the fight came when his hard-right put Paul into the ropes, but Paul did well and composed himself to hold off Woodley.
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The funny thing about this fight was Tyron Woodley asking for a rematch with Paul suggesting that it could take place as long as Woodley gets a tattoo on his body that says “I LOVE JAKE PAUL”.
After this fight win, Jake Paul took his professional boxing record to 4 – 0 with a four-fight win streak and is set to make a mark in the sport of boxing. Since his victory against Woodley, many have been asking the question of whether he could turn into a professional boxer? The answer to that is a definite YES. At the age of just 24, Jake Paul has taken out a list of 4 boxers, which includes two professional athletes. To add to that, it’s not easy to get a headliner event for any of your fights but coming in as a YouTuber, Jake Paul has already been a part of the headliner and fans seem to want to pay whatever it takes to watch his fights.
Now the question remains, who could be next for Jake Paul?
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After his fight against Woodley, he said “I’m not sure who’s next. I haven’t stopped, I need to figure out who I am. I’m keeping my head on straight, I’ll get back in the Gym when ready. Let’s see” which clearly says that he isn’t sure about who he’s going to take on next.
In Paul’s Trash Talk build-up to the Woodley fight, he mentioned that Canelo Alvarez, the Mexican pound-for-pound superstar who is undoubtedly one of the best at the moment is on top of his bucket list of opponents as he continues to adventure in the sport of Boxing. The match-up is obviously far-fetched, but as things stand, it looks like the Woodley re-march is the front-runner currently. With a win in his next fight, Jake Paul could take his win streak to 5 fights and that’s when fans could possibly accept him as a professional pound-for-pound boxer.
[Image Credit: Jake Paul]
Shashank Iyer