The 28-year-old has become a real household name since making his professional boxing debut – but fans have completely slated his recent comments
Jake Paul has come in for some brutal criticism after he compared himself to Muhammad Ali ahead of his fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer was last seen in the ring back in November when he defeated former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson. Despite failing to get the knockout on fight night, the 28-year-old cruised to a victory on points at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.
Paul will take on Chavez Jr in Anaheim on June 28. The American is hoping that the fight will kickstart a busy year in the ring after a few months away from competitive action. Chavez Jr – who holds a professional record of 54-6-1 – defeated former UFC middleweight contender Uriah Hall in his last outing. The Mexican fighter has also stepped in the ring with the likes of Andy Lee, Canelo Alvarez, Daniel Jacobs and former UFC champion, Anderson Silva.
Since making his professional debut in 2020, the young star has helped grow the sport of boxing has gained millions of fans in the process. After his fight with Tyson, Netflix revealed the viewership for the fight was 60 million households. The streaming service reports that at its peak, 65 million screens were tuned in to the dust-up. He has also received plaudits for his work in growing women’s boxing with Most Valuable Promotions.
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The 28-year-old believes he has made a big difference in the sport and has put himself alongside Ali. In a recent interview with DAZN, Paul made a stunning claim about his accolades in boxing. “To me, [Chavez] has done nothing in this sport. I feel like I’m the only one doing it. Everyone else is just trying to gatekeep or say that they’re doing things for the sport, or something is bad for boxing. But I’m the greatest thing to happen to boxing since Muhammad Ali, and there’s no debating that,” Paul said.
“No other fighter is building gyms, getting boxing gloves into the hands of kids, throwing multiple events a year, donating my whole entire purse back into my own charity when I fought in Puerto Rico… I’ve done this in only 12 fights, where Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Marvin Hagler, you can name any of these people, fought nobodies for their first 15-20 fights, and no one even knew who they were.”
Following his comments, it is fair to say that fight fans were left unimpressed and were quick to take to social media. One fan wrote: “Is he serious?” While another commented: “Jake does NOT believe this and once again he trolls everyone to stay in the headlines. How can nobody see this.”
A third fan replied: “This m*********** is annoying,” while another user commented: “Delusional, he’s not a boxer.” A fifth replied: “Someone needs to smack his light head.” A sixth posted: “Celebrity boxing is so cringe,” whole another wrote: “Go f*** yourself Jake Paul you balding rat.”
With Paul continuing to make a name for himself, Ali’s grandson – Biaggio Ali Walsh – believes the late boxing icon would have been all for Paul’s contest with Mike Tyson. He told Mirror Fighting: “In terms of the circus fights, that’s what I like to call them – it’s money orientated. It’s not like it’s not based on talent anymore, really. It’s based on, you know, just the biggest name versus the biggest name, regardless of your skill level.
“But to make of that… I honestly don’t think he would disapprove of it, because the viewership in the eyes and people buying to watch the fight was the reason he even started trash-talking and brought out his personality anyway. Yeah, so in a way, I feel like he’d be supportive of it.
“You know, if you can fool millions of people to watch you fight, then you’re doing something right, right? So I feel like he wouldn’t disapprove of it. I feel like he would…it would be entertaining for him to see what’s next, like, who’s the next big name versus the next big name, you know? So I don’t think he would disapprove of it. In fact, I think he would be entertained by it.”
