Story by
Jake Paul boxing record reflects creative matchmaking and powerful right hand
- Story by
- Jake Paul boxing record reflects creative matchmaking and powerful right hand
Jake Paul has a boxing record unlike any other in the history of the sport.
As a pro, he has gone 10-1 with seven knockouts against opponents that include a YouTuber, a retired NBA player and four MMA fighters. All but one of those opponents were making their pro boxing debut.
Advertisement
Critics who contend Paul, 27, has thrived as much by shrewd matchmaking as by boxing talent will point out that seven of Paul's 10 opponents were 35 or older. (Tyron Woodley, the former UFC champion whom Paul fought twice, was 39. Anderson Silva, the legendary MMA fighter, was 47.)
Like Mike Tyson, who will be 58 when he fights Paul on Nov. 15 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, many of Paul's opponents were past their prime. But his boxing record reveals a level of legitimacy.
Paul has knocked down each of his 10 opponents, and footage of his brutal knockouts of Robinson and Woodley went viral. But until now, he has fought only as a cruiserweight, where boxers can weigh no more than 200 pounds at weigh-in. Against Tyson he'll make his heavyweight debut.
The boxing world largely has acknowledged the progress Paul has made since his pro debut in January 2020, almost five years ago. His record helps explain why.
Jake Paul attends a news conference in New York City on May 13, 2024.
Jake Paul on Mike Tyson undercard
The main event was Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr., but the most memorable punch thrown Nov. 28, 2020 at Crypto.Com Arena (then known as the Staples Center) was from Paul.
Advertisement
Invited to fight on the undercard, Paul was matched up with Nate Robinson, a former pro basketball player who'd won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three times.
He got slammed by Paul.
Then 23, Paul knocked down Robinson three times. The third knockdown came off of a powerful right hand midway through the second round and left Robinson tumbling to the canvas face first. For half a minute his body looked lifeless.
By the force of his right hand, Paul had served notice: the YouTuber is dangerous in the ring.
The previous January, in his pro debut, Paul scored a first-round knockout YouTuber Ali Eson Gib. But with victories over a YouTuber and a retired NBA player, there still was much to prove.
Advertisement
Jake Paul opponents: MMA fighters
Paul moved on to the ranks of mixed martial arts.
First up: Ben Askren, a wrestler who competed at the 2008 Olympics before moving on to MMA and going 19-2. But at 36, Askren was coming off of back-to-back defeats.
Paul dropped him 1:59 into the first round and won by TKO. Askren has not fought again.
Next up: Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champion who who had been dumped by the UFC after four consecutive losses.
Paul got rocked by a Woodley right hand in the fourth round. The ropes -- and resilence -- helped keep him on his feet. Prevailing by split decision in that eight-round, Paul ended the rematch with a vicious right hand and highlight reel knockout..
Advertisement
The skeptics grumbled when, for his next bout, Paul opted to fight Silva. The legendary MMA fighter was 3-1 as a boxer. But he was 47, almost twice as old as Paul, who knocked down Silva in the final round of their eight-round fight and won by unanimous decision.
Jake Paul opponents: trained boxers
Sporting a 6-0 record after beating Silva, Paul changed the narrative. Three of his next four opponents were trained boxers.
The first was Tommy Fury, the brother of heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury, who handed Paul his first loss. Paul knocked down Fury in the final round of their eight-round fight, but Fury won by split decision and improved to 9-0.
Advertisement
In his next bout, Paul knocked down MMA star Nate Diaz and won the fight by unanimous decision.
Then it was back to the boxers – both 35 and largely inactive in the past four years. Neither survived the first round.
Paul knocked Andre August unconscious and Ryan Bourland cowered in a corner before the referee stopped the fight.
But Paul has worn the look of fear.
With his fight against Tyson postponed after Tyson's medical emergency , Paul agreed to fight Mike Perry, a 32-year-old bareknuckle brawler known as the "King of Violence." A loss to Perry would have imperiled the Tyson fight.
Advertisement
The look of fear was unmistakable when Paul knocked down Perry in the first and second rounds, but the bloodied bareknuckle boxer kept on coming. Equipped with that hard right, Paul finally stopped Perry in the sixth round by TKO.
Paul's boxing record, a colorful collection of opponents and some impressive outcomes, is ready for another entry.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jake Paul boxing record: Skepticism, progress, power fill resume
