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In the aftermath of Jake Paul’s victory over Mike Tyson, there has been widespread speculation on the next opponent of the YouTuber-turned-boxer.
If Paul were to fight a former or current NBA player, ex-Lakers star Metta World Peace, fka Ron Artest, has emerged as the betting favorite, per Bovada.
Over the past few years, several former NBA stars have traded the basketball court for a boxing ring. In 2020, Nate Robinson became one of Paul’s first opponents when he suffered a knockout in the second round of his boxing debut.
Then, in December 2021, former NBA All-Star Deron Williams fought NFL legend Frank Gore in a boxing ring. Williams won by split decision after four rounds. After the bout, Williams explained why basketball players find it easier to transition to boxing compared to athletes from other sports.
“Yeah, I mean, you get hit every now [and again] in basketball,” Williams said in November 2021. “You see, basketball players, even when I was playing, you get hit every now and then in the face. … It just happens every now and then, and it happens once every 10 games or 20 games. If you were out there getting smacked in the face every play, you’d get used to it (and) you adjust. So, I think it’s kind of the same thing with boxing and MMA. You have to get used to getting punched in the face.”
The Basketball-Boxing Connection
Furthermore, many basketball players incorporate sparring sessions into their workout regimens to improve their hand-eye coordination. As an example, the likes of Iman Shumpert, Damian Lillard, Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle Kuzma, John Wall, and Moe Harkless have routinely exhibited their boxing sparing sessions via social media.
In 2023, Shumpert invested in Rumble Boxing, a fitness company that specializes in group boxing classes for people from all walks of life, not just athletes.
“I feel like a lot of times [last] year, I ran into trouble just having my balance right,” Shumpert told USA Today in September 2017. “Whether that’s going to the basket, making shots, being on the free throw line, or whatever, I need to be balanced, I need to have core stability, and that’s all the things that boxing tells you to do.”
Felipe Eichenberger, the head strength coach of the Nuggets, regularly incorporates boxing- and MMA-related in his training techniques.
“Basketball and strength conditioning is not just weights and a court—boxing is a great off-season workout for NBA players,” Eichenberger told Men’s Journal in January 2023. “It has the cardio aspect, and you’re moving in all directions and using a lot of footwork in the training. All the handwork, footwork, and directional movement can transfer to basketball.”
Jake Paul Next Fight: Other Contenders
Even as various athletes, entertainers and celebrities have thrown their hats into the mix, Paul’s camp expects him to fight a legitimate fighter instead of a makeshift boxer.
Bleacher Report has listed KSI, Tommy Fury, Canelo Alvarez, Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz and Mike Perry as the five most realistic opponents for Paul’s next fight.
If Alvarez does agree to fight Paul, Bleacher Report’s Tom Taylor expects the latter to get smoked.
“Paul would be cooked in this potential fight,” Taylor wrote on November 16. “Despite being significantly larger than Canelo, he would get profoundly embarrassed on a technical level. And despite having proven knockout power, his landing a knockout punch on Canelo is no more likely than the Mexican star being hit by a meteor.”
Paul first called out Alvarez after his victory over Tyson, saying that the latter “needs” him because he knows “where the money man’s at.”
Later, Paul admitted that he “might get flatlined” if he dared enter the boxing ring with Alvarez, widely considered the best boxer of his generation.
“People won’t be satisfied with my career until I get [expletive] flatlined,” Paul said on his BS w/ Jake Paul podcast on November 16. “[He is] one of the best to ever do it, a legend, pound-for-pound great. Yeah, it’s gonna be an insane fight. It’s gonna be hard as [expletive] I might get my [expletive] beat and flatlined. But let’s [expletive] find out!”
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