If it started as a novel self-experiment, Jake Paul’s boxing career was recast as something far more meaningful the second his knockout punch landed on fellow YouTuber Ali Eson Gib last year.
“When I won in the first round, I became addicted to the feeling of knocking somebody out, and I realized how good I actually was,” Paul told The Athletic. “My coaches would tell me I had power, that I could knock this guy out, but then I did it and that’s what it took to send me over the edge and fall in love with the sport. And I’ve only fallen in love with it more and more. All sides of it. Camp, the media, the sh*t talk, fight night, the outfits. All of it.”
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That newfound passion advanced Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) to the opening of a multi-fight contract with Showtime that launches Sunday night with his pay-per-view main event versus former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
If early purchasing trends continue, there’s a chance Paul could triple the buys of the Hall-of-Fame-bound, eight-division legend Manny Pacquiao, who was upset by Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas on Saturday.
Along with his brother Logan, who ignited the influencer influence on boxing by first fighting rival KSI twice and then going the distance with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in June, Jake Paul, 24, is reshaping what the public wants from its fights with every bout.
“It’s a new era,” Paul declared. “There’s different ways to go about this. I have my own fan base and it’s built in, and I know how to promote a fight.”
The smaller Woodley, however, is listed by BetMGM as a +160 to -200 favorite Paul, who told The Athletic previously he intends to use his size advantages to defeat Woodley the same way the bigger, longer Anthony Joshua did in his late 2019 heavyweight-title rematch triumph over Andy Ruiz Jr.
The matchup belies the two-pronged challenge of learning boxing in the glare of such widely viewed events.
Paul, like other prospects, has every right to script his career deliberately. He has in moving from Gib to a more vicious knockout of retired NBA player Nate Robinson to the crushing first-round finish of Woodley’s close friend and former MMA champion Ben Askren in April.
“I want to continue challenging myself and (Woodley) is certainly a challenge,” he said. “I wanted a tough guy with power and striking ability who was boxing while I was in the eighth grade. It’s a real test.”
Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley pose for cameras after their press conference this week in Cleveland. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Paul has dared to say he’s aiming to fight boxing pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez within three years, and perhaps former UFC champion Conor McGregor or Mayweather before that.
But on that road, he’s going to be pounded with criticism about the quality of his competition.
“There will always be some excuses connected to who I’m fighting, especially because I’ve gotten here so fast, but that’s the name of the game, right?” Paul asked. “Anthony Joshua loses to Andy Ruiz, then comes back and beats him in 12 rounds. Then they say, ‘Oh, he ran, he really didn’t go after him … ,’ so even if you’re Anthony Joshua, or Floyd Mayweather or Canelo, there’s always going to be people making excuses on your success instead of praising you.”
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It’s that type of boxing knowledge and astute comparisons that sold Showtime Sports President Stephen Espinoza to invest in the so-called “Jake Paul train” after Espinoza had previously hitched himself along the rides of Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya and Mayweather.
“To be completely candid, like a lot of boxing purists are, I was skeptical at first – about Jake’s motives, about the value he brought to the sport,” Espinoza said. “I was concerned, cynically, that this was a cash grab and it’s anything but. This is a kid who wants to have 10, 15, 20 fights.
“It took talking to him to turn it around for me. There is clearly interest in what he’s doing. Regardless of the platform, he is clearly doing big business. And the more I talked to him, the more I became convinced he is looking to expand and elevate the sport, that he wants his fans not just to be Jake Paul boxing fans, but to become boxing fans in general.”
Paul’s Showtime debut revealed that reach, as he pushed Espinoza to assemble a card that includes more significant players than the front-runner to be his next opponent, heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s half-brother, Tommy Fury.
In addition to offering the outstanding young Cleveland boxers Charles Conwell and Montana Love, the card’s action-fighting assemblage includes women’s champion Amanda Serrano, former 140-pound champion and 2020 fight-of-the-year participant Ivan Baranchyk and the U.S. debut of heavy-handed heavyweight contender Daniel Dubois.
Paul told Espinoza, “I want young fighters. I want exciting, action fighters. I don’t want boring fighters. I don’t want to bring my audience to buy this and have a meaningless, boring undercard.”
That long-denied common-sense approach is buffeted by consumer studies and industry polls that reveal a greater awareness and affinity for boxing among younger generations over the past year.
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“Jake is converting those fans,” said Espinoza, who had a taste of the Paul effect by seeing that Logan Paul-Mayweather spawned a large influx of new subscriptions – the largest yet to subscribe to Showtime digital. “If you can drive those types of people to subscriptions, you’ve got a lot of pull.”
What Paul does outside of the ring is equally valuable.
Shirtless and barely involved during a post-news-conference fracas Thursday, Paul briefly observed the scene that erupted when members of his team had words with Woodley’s mother and sister, with some shoves delivered, and boxing reporters clamoring to record.
Congratulated for partially presiding over a buzz-worthy moment that only enhanced interest in his Sunday bout, Paul responded, “Thank you, man.”
Fire away at Paul’s boxing development if you will, but one can’t dispute his authentic gift for knowing what sells. He’s gifted at spewing invasive words that enrage foes and appeal to the masses on YouTube.
On stage, he enlightened that, “There’s a lot of people who are jealous, who wish they could be here. I don’t give a f–k what people think. I’m polarizing, I get it. Most people aren’t like that. They’re scared to rub people the wrong way.”
He shattered Woodley on stage Thursday, desecrating the fighter’s pride over his prior standing as a hard-hitting UFC champion.
“This guy’s going to sleep and getting turned into a meme. After Sunday, no one will ever talk about this guy again. He’s a speed bump on the Jake Paul train,” Paul said. “I’m going to show that having a UFC championship doesn’t mean sh*t in the world of boxing. Guess what? I’m going to knock out this motherf–ker.”
Paul has promised Espinoza he wants to successively fight more challenging opponents.
“The biggest stars in boxing have always had a huge cult of personality and Jake fits that bill,” Espinoza said. “None of the others had this spotlight on them that Jake has in his fourth pro fight. He’s learning on the job, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a legitimate boxer.”
Jake Paul prepares for a workout with his team this week in Cleveland. (Amanda Westcott/Showtime)
Paul said there’s a strong chance he’ll move to fight Tommy Fury should both win Sunday.
“You can’t say he’s not putting in the work and developing his skills,” said Espinoza. “Tommy Fury … that’s an appropriate fight. Tommy’s 6-0, Jake at 4-0 … typically with fighters having those kinds of records, that might not mean much. But that’s the magic of Jake Paul.
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“One of the things that demonstrates Jake’s value is he’s bringing people into the sport who never considered combat sports before, who never would buy a boxing pay-per-view before. The biggest stars did that: Tyson, De La Hoya. I’m not saying Jake’s in their category of boxing skills, but in the ability to make people pay attention to boxing who weren’t doing that before, that’s saying a lot.”
Paul was nearing the final round of week-long interviews when he spoke to The Athletic, but he livened up as this topic was raised.
What once was so experimental has taken flight, and as he soars majestically now to this homecoming bout, Paul is fueled to carry his vision to its conclusion.
“It’ll mean I’ve cemented a legacy in the history books forever. I’ve done a lot of cool stuff, but I think this is by far the coolest. There’s a real story here,” he said. “Making money is great, but I want to live and die as a legend, so I think changing the sport forever will be something that will be talked about for centuries to come – the way I did things. And I’m excited about it all.”
(Top photo: Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME)
