Jake Paul hopes to expand his “knockout meme collection” by stopping Ben Askren in four seconds.
YouTube star turned professional boxer Jake Paul is predicting he will stop former UFC welterweight Ben Askren in under five seconds.
To help with that goal, Paul says he’s enlisting the help of Jorge Masvidal.
“We’re here in Miami training. I wanted to channel Masvidal’s energy since he’s in Florida. I wanted to link up with Masvidal,” Paul told ESPN. “I’m linking up with Masvidal tomorrow. He’s going to help me train for this fight.
“And hopefully, I can knock out Askren faster than Masvidal did. I know it seems like a lofty goal, but if I can get under 4.9 seconds then I can break his record.”
After knocking out former NBA point guard Nate Robinson in his second pro boxing fight last November, Paul called out fighters such as Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis for his next bout. Earlier this week it was announced the retired UFC welterweight Askren will fight Paul on April 17th.
“I started boxing two years ago and I’m still going to knock his ass out faster than Masvidal,” Paul said. “These MMA guys think because they throw punches they know how to box. The world complained because I knocked out a basketball player and not a real fighter. So now I’m giving the people what they want by taking on a ‘real fighter.’ After Ben Askren is added to my knockout meme collection, what can anybody say?”
Masvidal knocked out Askren in just five seconds at UFC 239, breaking the record for the fastest UFC knockout of all time. If Paul is to beat that against Askren, he will tie the record for fastest knockout in boxing history. The current record has been held since 1947, when Mike Collins knocked out Pat Brownson in a Golden Gloves tournament.
Paul gave credit to Askren for his MMA resumè and said out of a handful of discussed opponents “Funky” was the only one to agree to the fight.
“Ben Askren was the only one that was ready to go, and he has less losses than McGregor and he’s a legit fighter who finished 12 people in his professional career and so for me it’s a perfect fight because people wanted to see me fight a real fighter.”