Jake Paul's TKO of Ben Askren was brutal, but not all that impressive
YouTube star Jake Paul remained undefeated in his professional boxing career by stopping Ben Askren, a 36-year-old wrestler-turned-MMA fighter who was giving boxing a try, with a heavy right hand in the first round of their fight at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
There was apparently some controversy over whether the fight should have been halted so early, but this video showing a wobbly Askren who’d had trouble defending himself before taking these blows is pretty convincing.
Sure, this whole fight was meant to be a spectacle — but nobody really needed to see more of this, right? Paul, 24, had a clear advantage:
The ringside view of Jake Paul's TKO. @ESPNRingside pic.twitter.com/YgasSH1Br4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 18, 2021
Those thuds are indeed impressive — and also concerning, since Askren has probably taken a not-insignificant number of blows to the head in his long, accomplished career.
However, you can count me among the many, many, many people who are not all that convinced that Paul is a serious contender in the boxing ring. His other two wins came against a fellow YouTuber trying to make the jump and Nate Robinson, the 5-foot-9 former NBA point guard.
Askren is, without question, an incredibly tough and brave athlete, but he made it very clear in his post-match press conference that he was in the ring mostly for the money.
Askren, who won two NCAA championships in wrestling at Missouri and later made the Olympic team, is pretty nonchalant when asked about whether the fight should have been stopped. It’s not exactly a riveting display of competitive fire.
Then, when asked if his career is over, he really gave it away: “Uh, no, I’m going to take about a million dollars home in the bank and coach some wrestling.”
OK, then! Makes sense. Get that money.
Our pals at MMA Junkie caught up with Logan Paul — Jake’s older brother — after the fight for his reaction.
Warning: This interview includes profanity.
"What the f*ck did y'all expect? Stop doubting Jake." @LoganPaul gave his instant reaction to @MikeBohnMMA after his brother finished Ben Askren in the first round. pic.twitter.com/zMyzkI0xtO
— MMA Junkie (@MMAjunkie) April 18, 2021
This is sort of the whole Paul family ethos here, I know, and all of this is just meant to build hype for the next fight because Jake continues to be a heel who fans will root against and other fighters will want to challenge. But there’s plenty of reason to doubt Jake after beating a fighter who is a decade older, required drastic hip surgery and never fulfilled his potential as an MMA fighter because he basically just tried to wrestle everybody and never truly learned the art of striking.
See, this has to stop. @jakepaul is not some scrub. He’s a pro now. Askren, even though he’s a @ufc fighter, is a grappler. Not a boxer. So why was he even in the damn ring? From now on, Paul needs to fight an actual boxer. He’s gonna hurt any non-boxer.
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) April 18, 2021
Not to take this Stephen A. ditty too seriously, but do we really have any clue that Jake Paul is not some scrub? Still seems too early to make that determination.
The question at this point is whether Paul opts to actually become a boxer — and to fight, you know, an athlete who has dedicated his career to learning to box — or if this is all just the latest evolution in a career built off an ability to grab attention.