EXCLUSIVE | Ben Askren: Jake Paul Is Not A Real Fighter
Former UFC fighter Ben Askren will be making his highly-anticipated return to combat sports when he faces off against YouTube star Jake Paul on April 17th.
The pro boxing debut of the accomplished wrestler will be a spectacle, no doubt.
In the lead-up to the matchup, Askren has some doubts on Paul’s boxing ability.
While not having too much problem with the concept of celebrity/YouTube boxing, the former MMA welterweight champion doesn’t see too much promise into the ‘fake fighter’ that is Jake Paul.
“I think people enjoy it.” Askren told LowKickMMA about celebrity boxing. “As far as ‘Is Jake Paul a real fighter?’ No. I don’t really think so. But, do people want to watch him box? The answer is yeah.”
“There is nothing to be made from either one of his fights.” Askren added. “I always joke with some of my kids. It’s like well, you know, I want you to wrestle competition that’s at your level because if you don’t if I throw you in there against Cael Sanderson or Jordan Burroughs, you’re just going to get demolished and I’m not gonna be able to see anything. If you go get someone who’s a bum you’re just going to pin them in 10 seconds, and I’m not going to get to see anything. So with those matches that are really lopsided and in this case it’s because the other person is really terrible.”
Paul started fighting as an amateur with a TKO win against viral sensation ‘Deji’ where his corner threw in the towel late in the fight. This prompted the Paul brother to venture into the pro circuit, fighting not-so-professional competition against the likes of Aneson Gib and Nate Robinson, stars from YouTube and the NBA.
Despite 3 KO wins in a row, Askren doesn’t see “The Problem Child” as a problem, rather more as a can crusher.
“You don’t really take too much away from that because it’s too hard to because the competition is so low that pretty much no matter what he did. He was going to look good.”
Do you agree with Ben Askren?
