YouTuber-turned boxer Jake Paul has called out the former UFC double champ Conor McGregor multiple times throughout the years. McGregor is one of the reasons Paul even got in the sport of boxing at all. That and his love of the PPV system.
The latest offer from Paul involves a duel at 175 pounds weight limit, whether it’s in the boxing ring or the UFC octagon. Earlier last month his brother Logan questioned if he could even make 170lbs. Paul typically weighs in between 200lbs and 190lbs and is quite a bit taller than McGregor.
While most people are confident in the Irishman’s ability to outbox ‘The Problem Child’ in the boxing ring, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s trainer disagreed.
Javier Mendez, the founder and head coach of American Kickboxing Academy, believes that Paul has a power advantage over McGregor should the bout ever materialize.
“I would favor Jake Paul at 175 over Conor in a boxing ring because he’s too big but you can’t count Conor out,” he told Betway Insider US. “Conor’s a good boxer, so you can’t discount his boxing ability but the size is a little much.”
“Jake Paul hits extremely hard as you can tell by what he’s done. If you haven’t woken up to Jake Paul’s ability they better because he’s only improving. So I think the size is a big difference and the power would be too much for Conor.”
The 51-years old also said that Paul has all the advantages he needs in order to defeat the UFC Megastar.
“Sometimes you can be bigger and not punch harder, but in this case Jake Paul is bigger than Conor and punches harder and he’s good, so all three variables are with Jake. He’s just a bigger man fighting a smaller man,” he continued.
Mendez is also confident in Paul’s fight experience and ability to deal with high-pressure fights despite only having five professional fights.
“Jake Paul also isn’t necessarily a novice anymore. He’s experienced in dealing with high pressure fights, and he’s proven he’s able to handle that pressure. So it’s a big man versus a little man and the big man just so happens to have more firepower.”
The YouTube personality has won all five of his professional fights, four of them via KO/TKO.
He last boxed Tyron Woodley in December last year, after Tyson Fury’s younger brother Tommy was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
McGregor started sparring only recently following that surprising leg break he suffered back in July of last year in the 3rd bout with Dustin Poirier.