Former UFC welterweight contender Ben Askren didn’t actually expect Jake Paul to be good at boxing.
‘Funky’ has been retired since an April 2021 clash against ‘The Problem Child’. The boxing match was the first of Askren’s career, and will likely go down as the last. The former Bellator champion was predictably knocked out in the first round by Paul.
However, that loss to the YouTuber-turned-boxer likely doesn’t hurt as much today as it did back then. Since then, Paul has scored several high-profile wins over names such as Tyron Woodley, and Anderson Silva. While he suffered his first career loss to Tommy Fury in February, he will now make his return in August against Nate Diaz.
Similar to Ben Askren, the Stockton slugger’s first boxing match will come against Jake Paul later this year. In an interview alongside Daniel Cormier, ‘Funky’ previewed the matchup. There, Askren admitted that Paul was far better than he expected when he signed to fight him back in 2021.
Furthermore, he added that the YouTuber has become pretty decent at boxing. With that in mind, Askren believes Paul will defeat Diaz in August.
“You know what? Maybe Jake Paul isn’t that bad at boxing,” Ben Askren stated in the interview. “Or maybe, I’m just trying to make myself feel better potentially. But, he did beat Tyron and he did beat Anderson Silva so… I got to imagine [that Paul will beat Diaz], I didn’t think Jake Paul would beat Tyron or Anderson Silva, so.”
He continued, “So yeah, I do think so… It sounded like fun [to box Paul] and I hoped he sucked. We didn’t know at that point! At that point, he had only boxed like a comedian and a basketball player… We didn’t know he was any good!”
What do you make of these comments from Ben Askren? Are you excited for Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz?
