Jake Paul has been called out time and time again about his boxing record – the now infamous celebrity boxer had boxed no actual boxers. The only bout he was scheduled to have with a boxer was the infamous match with Tyson Fury’s brother Tommy – which fell apart on late notice.
Paul was previously heavily criticized by ESPN’s controversial reporter Stephen A. Smith for the trajectory of his boxing career:
‘You knocked out a basketball player, you knocked out a dude in Ben Askren who was a UFC fighter. He was a wrestler.
‘Tyron Woodley had the power to knock you out; sure, and he’s knocked people out before. But he’s a wrestler.
‘You’re not fighting boxers. And somewhere along the way, people gotta stop walking around, laughing and acting like it’s alright for you to be beating up on cats that don’t box, while you’re calling yourself a boxer.’
But in spite of the harsh criticism Paul still sat down and did an interview with Smith for ESPN. In it – Paul addressed the criticism:
“I was on Disney Channel while these guys were winning UFC championships. Okay, I was playing with Mickey Mouse while these guys were throwing on bars and winning UFC championship so… I’ve been you know, training for the same amount of time as them. And look, I’ve always gone against people where the odds are even. Canelo just walked Caleb Plant as like a 1400 favorite.”
Paul continued: “You know, Gervonta Davis, in his eighth fight, fought a guy who was making his boxing professional debut. Floyd in his fourth fight, fought a guy who was making his boxing professional debut. ”
“So everyone’s you know, analyzing my career critiquing it, paying attention to it from day one, but you can’t tell me who is Mike Tyson’s first fight. You can’t tell me who? Muhammad Ali who was his fourth fight. No one knows. But everyone’s seen all of my fights and I’m gradually progressing and increasing my level of mission as I get better into the gym.”
And it’s hard to criticize Paul for this observation – it’s definitely very hard to match someone with his amount of training against a Boxing World Champion – especially considering how hard the sport is.
Once Smith doubled down on his criticsm of Paul’s boxing opponents – Paul fired back:
“Yeah, I tried to fight Tommy Fury and he backed out due to rib injury, undefeated young prospect. You know, he comes from the Fury family. You know, his brother’s a heavyweight champion of the world. I tried to fight them and he got scared. He backed out of the fight. He’s undefeated. ”
“I don’t care. Like just because someone’s a professional boxer doesn’t mean they can fly. I’m taking down all these guys. I’m trying to fight Jacob. What is his name? Jacob Chavez Jr. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. “
Of course Paul is referring to the 2012 WBC champion – and also a man who had suffered a defeat to Anderson Silva last year.