Boxing‘s Problem Child has his next opponent. In a press release sent out today, Most Valuable Promotions announced that Jake Paul (7-1) would be returning to the squared circle on December 15th and he’ll be taking on Andre August (10-1-1).
Of course, that name might come as a surprise to most. To date, outside of Tommy Fury, Jake Paul has made a name for himself boxing the likes of former professional MMA fighters like Anderson Silva, Nate Diaz, and Tyron Woodley. However, Paul is taking his career seriously and wants his next fight to be a serious contest.
The bout will be contested at cruiserweight (200 pounds) and is contracted for eight rounds. August, a 35-year-old, professional boxer will carry a three-fight winning streak into the bout with Jake Paul. For him, taking this fight against Paul was a no-brainer.
“Jake Paul has the money, the fame, the team and the resources but he doesn’t have my hunger,” August said in a statement. “When that bell rings, I am going to go straight to Jake Paul and ring his bell and send him back to YouTube for good.”
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Jake Paul also released a statement in the press release reiterating how serious he is about his career and his aspirations to one day become a world champion in the sweet science. “I’m a professional boxer and I want to be world champion, so I need to pursue the path towards greatness against people who have been boxing their whole life,” Paul said in a statement.
Now, it’s worth noting that while the record of August would suggest he’s a solid step up, there’s a few caveats. He didn’t fight from November 2019 through August of this year. So while he has won three straight, only one of those came during that time frame.
August is also the smaller fighter a little undersized for the traditional cruiserweight. While he has won ten professional boxing fights, only two fights came against competition with a winning record and has only had two fights in his career that were contracted for more than four rounds.
I think this is a smart next step for Jake Paul. He’s taking on a professional with a solid record, but it’s a professional that he can match up very well against. It should earn him more respect no matter what and it’ll give him some solid experience against a pro.