Retired Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren and popular puncher Mike Perry have both expressed an interest in a boxing bout with YouTube celebrity Jake Paul.
Paul scored a brutal, second-round knockout victory over former NBA player Nate Robinson this weekend. Featuring in the co-main event slot of the Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr exhibition card, Paul took his professional record to 2-0.
Post-fight the 23-year-old called for fights with SBG teammates Dillon Danis and Conor McGregor.
“I’ve been training my ass off for the past year. I’m taking this seriously,” Paul said in his post-fight interview. “There’s a long list of opponents that I want — Conor McGregor, Dillon Danis. I’m going to knock them both out.
“For me, my whole life has been a fight,” he added. “So fighting — it’s something that I’m great at. Being from Ohio, a small town and making my way to Los Angeles to fame and success and just fighting for it. People never believing in me, people hating me — being one of the most hated people in the world. I have to fight through that, it’s not easy.
Paul’s performance has attracted some interest from the MMA world, with Askren and Perry taking to social media to express their willingness to square off against the YouTuber.
“Who wouldn’t want to get paid to beat up a no talent YOuTube star who nobody likes,” Askren wrote on Twitter.
Who wouldn’t want to get paid to beat up a no talent YOuTube star who nobody likes
https://t.co/QAm1o1Lf4Y
— Funky (@Benaskren) November 29, 2020
‘Platinum’ who is fresh off a tough loss to Tim Means at UFC 255 seemed eager to get back to fighting. Perry has previous professional boxing experience and is willing to lace up the gloves once again for a fight with Paul, he wrote.
“I mean if you want to be serious I think it would be cool to fight Jake Paul, he did a good job last night and I could use a nap if he’s handing em’ out.”
Do you want to see Ben Askren or Mike Perry box Jake Paul?