Some of you all could not care one bit less about this item than you do now. But, I’m telling you: if you don’t want to accept it, fine, but YouTuber boxing is here to say.
You thought maybe it was a blip on a screen, when Logan Paul fought KSI at Staples Center in Nov. 2019. But the blip flared up, and now a full-on trend will develop, after 23-year-old Jake Paul dropped and stopped Nate Robinson, birthing memes and copious chatter and pondering about what “non-traditional fights” might be booked.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Jake brought a few of those reportedly more than one million PPV buys.
Paul, the younger brother of 25-year-old Logan Paul, spoke to Ak and Barak of SiriusXM about the fight.
“I’m more of a professional boxer now than anything else,” said the young gun, who showed he has some pretty legit pop in his right hand, to the chagrin of the 36-year-old former NBA player. “I got to showcase my skills to the world and it’s an amazing feeling to come out in a glorious and violent fashion.”
He stirred the pot nine different ways, including talking a lil’ smack on big bro. “Everyone thinks my brother can beat me and I wanna prove people wrong,” said Jake, who started putting out video logs in 2014, while acknowledging that bout might not ever happen.
And OK, assuming that next fight out he won’t fight his own brother, who would he like to fight?
“I want to take out KSI, Dillon Danis and Ben Askren and some of these guys first … Conor McGregor is gonna get it eventually. People think that’s a joke, but literally no other people are calling him out with the same level platform,” he said. “I have the skill to take him on. I am sparring people that have sparred him before, we’re on the same level from a boxing standpoint and our talent gap is less than what Floyd and his was. So I think the fight just makes sense.”
Lots of folks didn’t know who Paul was, but learned when he put the hammers onto Nate. Some knew him and didn’t care for his manner. He can and does come off like a cocky punk to some, depending on your POV on his type of “stardom.”
But Jake showed some class when he told the hosts that he did reach out to Robinson after punishing him. He said he prayed when he saw Nate lying there, because, yes, it looked scary while he was out on the canvas.
“I messaged Nate Robinson on IG wishing him well,” said Paul. “I hope his health is doing OK and that he doesn’t take the KO personally.”
He seems open to drawing from any and all spaces to find foes. “I want to fight the people who are talking shit, I wanna prove them wrong,” he said. He wants to fight MMA guys, get his skills better, and then, who knows, maybe in three years he can fight Canelo.
Listen, stranger things have happened — and more strange stuff will go down tomorrow. These are different times, when people are much, much more interested in making money than sticking to old standards and practices. What, you don’t think it is interesting to a McGregor, this kid who has 13.9 million Instagram followers, and announces a desire to fight him? Conor has to think that’s easy money/easy work, even if he has to go up much further in weight than he wants to.
“As far as weight class for a Conor fight, we’ll figure it out. I’d be willing to cut down in weight as far as 180,” said Jake, who said he cut to 189 for the Nate fight.
But before that, what? “KSI is my first choice for my next fight,” Jake said. “It’s been talked about enough. I want to make that happen but we’ll see. He’s legitimately scared of me and doesn’t want me to beat his ass.”
And if not that, it sounds like maybe another ex-NBA start wants to perhaps see for himself if the fate of Nate was an aberration.
“Ron Artest (aka Metta World Peace and Metta Sandiford-Artest) calling me out is stupid,” Jake said. “I just proved how good of a fighter I am. People need to put some respect on my name and Ron Artest would get his ass beat, probably faster than Nate Robinson, because by the time we fight I’m gonna be even a better fighter. I don’t want to fight any more of these NBA guys. It’s not worth my time at this point. I need a harder challenge and I need bigger names than Ron Artest.”
My three cents: I think Jake Paul is something of a certified dipshit, just for his ignorant assessment of COVID. But he’s also savvy, in a way, because he does a certain percentage of the silly stuff just to get media and social media attention. Certainly, there are many more things to get heated about than Jake and his history of moronic stunts. He is what he is, we are where we are, this kid simply smartly exploits it, he didn’t start it.
What do YOU all say — does this YouTuber and his dabbling in pugilism entrance you? Or do you detest it, or simply tolerate it?