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YouTuber Jake Paul accepted the challenge to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman inside a boxing ring next. The 24-year-old is 3-0 as a professional boxer with 3 KOs, and now he hopes to share the ring with the UFC’s current welterweight champion Usman.
Paul posted, “Challenge accepted @USMAN84kg if your boss Dana gives you permission to box me and make more money than you ever have, let me know and we can lace them up. I promise it will be your biggest pay day.”
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Usman Would Be Huge Leap Up In Competition
Paul defeated ex-UFC star Ben Askren in his last fight, and now he apparently wants to take a massive leap up in competition.
After all, Askren mostly used his grappling skills during his career, so much so that the retired MMA star entered his boxing bout against Paul an underdog on the betting market despite being vastly more experienced in prizefighting.
While Usman is also a strong wrestler, his boxing skills have improved so much in recent fights that he’s become one of the most feared strikers in the sport. In fact, Usman isn’t nearly the same kind of one-dimensional threat as Askren. Usman is one of the most complete MMA fighters in the sport.
Look for no further evidence of that than Usman being the first fighter ever to stop Jorge Masvidal by knockout in the main event of UFC 261 over the weekend. It was a brutal one-punch KO that sent ripples throughout the MMA universe.
Of course, Paul was in attendance for the fight, so he absolutely got a glimpse of the action firsthand.
But that apparently won’t dissuade the brash boxing star from accepting Usman’s challenge for a megafight boxing match.
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Usman Challenged Paul During Recent TMZ Interview
Usman challenged Paul to a boxing match in a recent interview with TMZ Sports. The UFC’s 170-pound king argued there weren’t any worthy contenders in his division right now anyway, so he might as well hop into the ring with Paul.
“If these guys don’t show me anything, maybe I’ll go pull out one of these guys who think they can fight, they can box, one of these Internet guys and beat the s*** out of them,” Usman said.
Moreover, Usman said he wants to fight Paul in honor of retired UFC legend Daniel Cormier. Cormier’s ongoing beef with the YouTuber began after Paul’s KO win over Askren, and it has continued to capture the attention of the fight world. But Usman doesn’t like how Paul is calling out Cormier for a boxing match, so now “The Nigerian Nightmare” is willing to take the plunge.
“At the end of the day, that’s Daniel Cormier, one of the best ever to do this and Jake Paul needs to put some respect on his name,” Usman said per TMZ.
So Usman offered to be the next UFC star to fight Paul.
“DC, sit down. Let me take care of that for you. Let me take care of that,” Usman said.
Now, Paul has accepted the fight.
Usman posted via social media a little while after Paul accepted the fight. He said, “Keep making your money young man, and stay on that side. I ain’t no Disney kid and I don’t play fighting.”
Paul interpreted that as Usman backing out, and he trolled Usman via social media using a picture of Usman and his daughter.
What happens next is anybody’s guess, but dragging Usman’s child into the mix was probably the wrong move.
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