Jake Paul, and those who continue to support his career as a professional boxer, should now have collectively concluded what most of us already knew.
It’s time to finally end the “Jake Paul is a boxer” foolishness.
On Friday night, Paul faced his first true legitimate challenge when he took on former Heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua in a fight that should never have been sanctioned.
As expected, Paul was eventually KOed by Joshua in the sixth round after previously being knocked down three times.
Some are giving Paul his props for hanging around in the fight, demonstrating his heart against a former champion who outweighed him by roughly 30 pounds and for actually landing a few punches.
Please stop.
Please stop legitimizing what he supposedly did Friday night. And dammit, please stop legitimizing Paul as a professional boxer.
Paul circled around the ring for most of the fight in a 22×22 ring that was slightly larger than the standard 20×20 ring size.
He also threw, according to Compubox, a whopping 56 total punches while only landing 16 (28.6%); that means, per round, he threw a measly 9 punches and landed a little under 3 of them. Joshua, who understood when to punch and when to mercifully end Paul’s night, threw 146 punches and landed 48 (32.9%, 24 and 8, respectively).
And no, he didn’t win a round against Joshua.
Paul’s rise in the sport came by beating over-the-hill MMA fighters in a sport that they don’t compete in; for the uninformed, MMA and boxing, while having some similarities, are completely different sports.
The boxers Paul selected to fight were Tommy Fury, who he lost to, an uninterested Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and a lethargic, past-his-prime Mike Tyson.
Despite owning a glaringly deficient boxing resume, some continued to give him props and compliment him for his dedication to boxing, his improvement and the fact that he was bringing attention to the sport.
“Say what you will about Paul, he has power,” tweeted Ariel Helwani after Paul’s “fight” against an out of shape Ben Askren in 2021. “He has fundamentals. There’s no debating this.”
Oh, there’s much debating to that Ariel, and undeserving compliments like his became fodder that fueled Paul’s pursuit of boxing.
Now, to his credit, Paul used his social media influence to attract new audiences to boxing and promote his card and fighters, including the great Amanda Serrano. Paul deserves credit for breaking through the politics that has so often hindered boxing to deliver something his fans want.
He is a great promoter and salesman, and the way he’s infiltrated boxing capitalized on the desire for boxing entertainment is a case study he should be commended for.
But to call him a pro boxer is disrespectful to the sport and those who dedicate their lives to pursue it professionally.
People who truly understand boxing know that the accolades he’s received are more thirsty and celebrity driven than deserving; all you have to do is watch his “fights” to see his skills are severely lacking.
His jabs are off. He over throws his punches and his volume is almost non-existent. He has no stamina and there’s no understanding or utilization of the basic principal of controlling the distance.
On Friday night, against an Olympic gold medal winning, former heavyweight champion fighter, Paul learned all of those lessons the hard way and suffered a shattered jaw in the process.
He can market that injury and his toughness all he wants, as his fans will eat it up, but that’s just PR bravado.
Boxing is serious. It’s not a sport “for the gram” or one to play. If Joshua had decided to unleash his talents and punish him, the fight would have been over in round one and Paul could have been seriously injured.
For that reason alone, their fight should never have been sanctioned.
Boxing is dangerous so fighters want as many big pay days as possible, which is what Paul gives them. I get that completely.
But for Paul and his 12-2 “pro” record to be given the opportunity to face Joshua could have turned out to be a risk no amount of money could have healed; look up Prichard Colón for proof.
Fortunately, Paul survived and will be ok.
But at this point, let’s agree to finally end the spectacle of Jake Paul’s boxing entertainment and get back to real boxing with real boxers.
