The rise of Jake Paul has captured the attention of millions, after he ditched social media stardom to pursue a career as a professional fighter.
The 27-year-old from Cleveland, Ohio has fought 12 times as a professional, winning all but one. His only career defeat came at the hands of Tommy Fury, who narrowly defeated him over 8-rounds in Diriyah.
Paul has claimed wins over MMA legends Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz and Tyron Woodley, as well as defeating heavyweight legend Mike Tyson last November at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.
His bout against Tyson was flooded with controversy, with many expressing their frustration at Paul opting to face a man over 30 years his senior who had not fought as a professional since losing to Kevin McBride in 2005.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, boxing icon Floyd Mayweather Jr spoke about Paul’s ability as a fighter, but summed up his skill level by saying when he faces a real boxer it was ‘gonna be bad’.
“Jake Paul, as of right now for what he’s doing it’s good for what he’s doing, but when it’s time to fight an actual real fighter, it’s gonna be bad! But one think I like about him, one thing I do is that he’s selling it and he’s making good money and he’s entertaining, I like that.
As long as he continues to fight MMA guys and YouTubers then he’s going to continue to look good and shine, but once he fights a real fighter, a real fighter that can really fight, then it’s not going to be that good.”
However, in the same interview Mayweather said he would return to professional boxing to face Paul.
“Paul was doing a sit down on a podcast one time and he said ‘I don’t want to do an exhibition against Floyd Mayweather’, he said ‘I’m only doing real fights’. Now, of course I can’t get up that high in weight but I’ll fight him at the weight that I’m at.”
‘The Problem Child’ is expected to announce his next fight in the coming months.
