Demetrious Johnson is not very happy about Jake Paul’s selection of opponents and recently sounded off with a strong message for the young Youtuber turned fighter.
Jake Paul has been professionally boxing for years now, as weird as it feels to say it. His brief but somewhat entertaining career has seen him go toe to toe with UFC legends like Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz, all the way to retired NBA players like Nate Robinson (whom Paul also dwarfs in size).
However, out of all of Jake Paul’s fights so far, only one has been against a young and hungry boxer in his prime (Tommy Fury). The other nine fights on Jake Paul’s resume are against either washed, rickety old men, or people who barely even qualify as an actual fighter in the first place (and in some cases, don’t). This is Demetrious Johnson’s problem with Paul, and he’s not the only person who feels this way.
Demetrious Johnson Opens up about his feelings towards Jake Paul and implores him to ramp up the quality of his competition
“He (Jake Paul) is evolving, don’t get me wrong.” Demetrious Johnson began. “But, what are you doing when you’re fighting these guys that you find off the street? Like I said before, when he fought Andre August, that gentleman was running pizza routes.”
“Go find somebody who’s 25-26 years old… that’s in the gym, that’s grinding, that’s hungry. Put yourself in the fire. Put yourself against top-level competition to build your credibility.”
Demetrious Johnson would later talk about the difference between fighting actual fighters and guys who barely qualify to go by such a term. In fact, Johnson even went as far as dismissing some of Paul’s fights as “not professional” which is a sentiment that seems to be shared by many.
Who would you like to see Jake Paul fight next?