This weekend the combat sports world will turn their attention to the boxing ring. On Sunday night, Jake Paul (3-0) is back as he’s taking on former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley (19-7-1 MMA) in the main event of a Showtime Boxing card.
This is a big step up in competition for Jake Paul. Paul first fought a fellow YouTuber in Ali Gib back in January of 2020 in his pro boxing debut. That night, Paul scored a first round knockout.
He then fought in November of last year when he took on former NBA player Nate Robinson. This fight went into the second round, but the result was the same. Jake Paul faceplanted Robinson to score the second round knockout.
From there, Jake Paul turned his attention to boxing MMA fighters. After calling out a number of fighters, Paul settled on a boxing match with former MMA world champion Ben Askren. Askren of course is known for his wrestling and not his striking.
Jake Paul knocked Askren out in the first round and showed the world he can knock out real fighters too. Now, he’s taking on a serious threat in Tyron Woodley. For the first time, Jake Paul is boxing someone who can legitimately hurt him.
Boxing Masvidal Next?
Even with a dangerous opponent in front of him, Jake Paul isn’t skipping a beat on calling people out. Now, he’s turned his attention to a UFC fighter that he was once seemingly friends with. That fighter is the UFC’s BMF, Jorge Masvidal (35-15).
Paul trained a little with Masvidal before the Askren fight and the two spent some time together. That said, Masvidal came out recently and told Ariel Helwani that he believes Woodley will knock out Jake Paul in the boxing ring.
Jake Paul didn’t take kindly to these comments. In a media scrum yesterday, Paul turned his attacks towards Jorge Masvidal. Paul said, “Anyone here listen to a Masvidal interview and go, ‘Wow that guys intellectual!’… I don’t think anyone says that. He’s a street fighter gangster who got knocked the f–k out in his last fight so maybe he’s losing some brain cells.”
When asked about a potential boxing match with Masvidal, Paul said, “I would love to fight Masvidal. I think it could very much so happen.” Masvidal responded on Twitter saying, “I guess this means you’ll stop hitting me up now on social media to hang out and train. Don’t worry about me you got a handful of problems coming your way.”
Would you want to see Masvidal in the boxing ring against Jake Paul? Sounds like it could happen down the line if Paul wins this weekend.