Jake Paul is finally giving Ben Askren some respect prior to their scheduled boxing match.
The boxing match between former UFC fighter Ben Askren and YouTube personality Jake Paul is getting closer. The two are set to face off on April 17 on the Triller platform. Leading up to the match there has been plenty of trash talk from both men, but when they had a press conference on Friday, Paul actually gave Askren some credit for his accomplishments as a fighter.
“This fight will give me a lot of credibility,” Paul said via MMAFighting.com. “Ben’s 19-2, has less losses than McGregor, two-time NCAA Division-I champ, Olympic wrestler, so yeah, he’s a real fighter. That’s why I wanted to do this fight, is to show the world this real fighter’s getting in with Jake Paul and he’s gonna get KO’d in two rounds.”
That was just about the only nice thing that was said between the two men on Friday night. Verbal jabs were thrown by both, but it was Paul who was trying to push the buttons of Askren by constantly bringing up his loss to Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal finished Askren in a record-setting five seconds at UFC 239. Paul Even had Masvidal on FaceTime to help him rag on Askren.
“That dude’s still alive?” Masvidal asked. To which Paul replied. “Don’t worry, I’m gonna finish him off.”
Askren was much more subdued than Paul and didn’t let the “bullying” as he called it, get to him. He did threaten Paul if the two should ever meet outside of the ring.
“I was talking to your mentality, you’re not gonna bully me,” Askren said. “That’s not gonna happen. You know, like, Jake if you and I ran into each other in the back alley in Las Vegas and I wanted to do a homicide.”
Who do you think takes home the win when Ben Askren and Jake Paul finally meet inside the squared circle on April 17?
