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Mauricio Sulaiman, President of the World Boxing Council (WBC), has given praise to Youtube star turned boxer, Jake Paul.
The sanctioning body head had recently taken some heat for stating that his organization was willing to issue a ranking to Paul.
“The reality is that social media is a phenomenon”, Sulaiman told Izquierdazo. “And Jake Paul deserves respect”.
Before the cancellation of the scheduled fight between Jake Paul and heavyweight prospect Hasim Rahman Jr, Sulaiman stated that if Paul came away victorious, then he would be classified in their rankings.
The fight never took place, as Rahman had trouble making the contract weight of 205-pounds.
On the other hand, Sulaiman’s statement generated a lot of criticism.
Paul has an undefeated record with 5 wins and 4 of those wins by knockout, but he’s yet to face an actual boxer in the ring. His pro debut came against an Youtube rival, and then he picked up victories against an NBA star and two MMA veterans.
However, Sulaiman defended his position.
“Jake Paul gets into the ring, with responsibility, and with adequate training,” Sulaiman pointed out. “But he gets discredited right away. Paul is a phenomenon, and we will see what happens in the future”.
After the negative reaction to his proposal to include Paul in the WBC rankings, Sulaiman states that he respects all of the incoming opinions on the matter.
“That is how the process works”, Sulaiman said. “Boxers fight, and with their results they can be classified in a weight class, and that is what Jake Paul is doing. But everyone is entitled to his own opinion. Everyone has his own motives to have an opinion. I respect the information or feelings that motivate how they think about Jake Paul.”