Jake Paul has altered the boxing landscape since he set foot inside the squared circle. Despite the initial strong skepticism, crossover boxing is now a mainstream event, and he is still smacking opponents. The American boxer has already established himself as one of the major combat sports stars who continues to sway the fans and influence the sports. With his influence growing with each passing day, he has now received backing from the UFC legend, Ken Shamrock.
When Paul, 27, started dispatching opponents in the boxing ring, which included former UFC champions, he raised many eyebrows. Fast forward many years, and he is now fighting Mike Tyson. What’s more? The YouTuber-turned-fighter knows how to sell a fight and takes home a heavy paycheck. Notably, he collected $7-8 million for his last fight. Last year, he made $42 million from boxing alone. So, when Shamrock sat down with Chris Van Vliet, the latter put forth an interesting question: what did Jake Paul bring to boxing?
Shamrock, 60, admitted he was among the crop of doubters initially and saw Paul, at 10-1, diluting the sports. However, he soon came around. The former UFC champion also pointed out how ‘Problem Child’ was earning more money than the world champions, suggesting his hold on the sport. He said, “It is hilarious for me to watch this actually happen. Because I hear so many people—and I was one of them in the beginning—saying, ‘What are you doing, man? You can’t do that!'”
“And then I’m watching how it’s playing out, and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s brilliant.’ It’s like he’s never fought a contender, and he’s making more money than world-champion boxers,” Shamrock continued. Following this, the host asked him, “Do you think he can fight?” Paul’s resume has been called into question numerous times, but the Reno resident believed he had impressive skill sets to beat top fighters.
Jake Paul: Not world-ranked, but legit!
Shamrock dismissed the question and the people who held similar views. He added, “No question he can fight… That’s absolutely ridiculous. He’s beating guys that have skill sets—they’re just older—but they still have the skill set and can beat probably 75% of the guys out there. He’s a legit fighter, he’s just not a ranked fighter in the world-ranked boxing.”
Paul has expressed his desire to be a world champion and his willingness to face stiffer competition. While he is not ranked at the moment, that will be his focus once he gets done with the Mike Tyson fight later this year. The Cleveland native is coming off wins against Nate Diaz and Mike Perry and would like to build on the momentum and collect the bragging rights of handing a professional defeat to Iron Mike next.
What do you make of these comments by Ken Shamrock about Jake Paul? Do you agree with him? Let us know in the comments below.
