Ben Askren Not Concerned By Jake Paul: ‘Think About The Guys I’ve Stood Across The Cage From’

Ben Askren is not too worried about the prospect of boxing Jake Paul.

It was made official on Tuesday that the former UFC welterweight would take on Paul in an eight-round boxing match set to take place April 17.

Despite being the first fighter Paul will face in a boxing ring, many observers are overlooking Askren, including the oddsmakers. That’s because he’s never been much of a striker with the general consensus being the fight will end in a knockout win for Paul.

But as far as Askren is concerned, he has faced far better strikers over the course of his career with only one in Jorge Masvidal being able to put him away.

“Listen, he’s a YouTube star,” Askren explained to Ariel Helwani (via Middle Easy). “People are trying to think like he’s this good boxer. Ariel, think about the guys I’ve stood across the cage from. Douglas Lima, Andrey Koreshkov, Robbie Lawler. And they only had four-ounce gloves on and they could punch me, elbow me, kick me or knee me — they can do whatever the hell they wanted.

“Now I have to box this YouTube star with 10-ounce gloves on. It’s just not all that concerning to me.”

While that is a fair point, Askren was able to defeat those fighters by utilizing his wrestling and grappling. That won’t be the case against Paul.

Regardless, “Funky” is expecting to get the win and even offered a prediction.

“TKO, round seven,” Askren added. “Because I don’t have a huge amount of power. It’s going to take me some time to wear him down and make him hate his life.“And then eventually, he’ll say, ‘look, I’m a rich celebrity. I don’t need to get f*cking punched anymore. I’m just going to roll over.’”

How do you see the fight playing out?