Getty Lamar Odom debuts inside a boxing ring on June 11.
Jake Paul is Conor McGregor to Lamar Odom. If that sentence doesn’t make sense to you, it will by the end of this article. Odom, 41, is a former NBA star who won two NBA Championships as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Additionally, Odom is famous for marrying Khloe Kardashian in 2009 and divorcing her in 2016. Now, Odom is set to be the next global celebrity to try his hand at boxing.
Last week, the retired basketball star announced the details for his upcoming boxing match against 33-year-old pop star Aaron Carter.
Odom vs. Carter will headline an Official Celebrity Boxing pay-per-view event scheduled for Friday, June 11.
Odom vs. Carter is scheduled to take place at the Showboat Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The action begins at 9:00 p.m. ET on June 11, and the price to watch the pay-per-view event is $29.99.
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Odom Wants To Fight Jake Paul Next
But Odom has even bigger things in mind than fighting the younger brother of one of Backstreet Boys. Odom wants to be the next NBA star to face the younger brother of a YouTuber-turned-boxing star, Logan Paul.
That last line is just a bit of levity. Both Logan Paul and Jake Paul have taken their training in boxing seriously.
Logan Paul is 0-1 in boxing, but he’s somehow managed to parlay his superstar status into an upcoming megafight against boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.
Meanwhile, Jake Paul is 3-0 with 3 KOs. He beat up a YouTuber, an ex-NBA star, and a former MMA champion, and he defeated every one of them by violent knockout.
By most accounts, Jake Paul appears to be further along in his career than his brother. More importantly, he has the glossy record and massive pay-per-view numbers to prove it.
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Jake Paul Already Wrecked Ex-NBA Star Nate Robinson
The last ex-NBA star to climb inside the ropes with Paul got wrecked via viral knockout. Heck, the last ex-UFC star that climbed into the ring with Paul suffered that same fate, so Odom is at least brave at this point for wanting any of that smoke.
Because Odom wasn’t dissuaded by seeing Nate Robinson get smoked by Paul in November 2020 on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view event on Triller, and he hasn’t been discouraged by the violent end to Ben Askren’s boxing dreams either.
Odom told VladTV just last week he wants to beat Carter on June 11, and he wants to face Paul after that.
“Maybe after this Aaron Carter thing, if Mr. Paul wants to give me a shot…”, Odom said.
Odom seems to believe his massive advantage in both height and reach would help him defeat Paul.
According to BoxRec, Paul stands six-foot-one. According to Basketball Reference, Odom would tower over him at six-foot-ten.
But Here’s Why Paul Is McGregor To Odom
But none of that explains why Paul is McGregor to Odom.
Paul is McGregor to Odom because Odom sees fighting Paul as the chief goal of his professional boxing career.
Since entering the world of combat sports, Paul has talked repeatedly about looking at his career in boxing as some kind of video game in which McGregor is the final boss.
“I want to fight a couple more people, I think, first,” Paul told ESPN after beating Robinson. “We’re figuring that out. I want to prove to the world that, ‘Yo, I’m gonna knock out all these fighters.’ Conor McGregor can maybe be the final boss. If we were playing a video game, he could be the final boss. And then I’ll probably retire after I beat McGregor.”
Odom hasn’t used the exact same words to describe his fixation on facing Paul, but in the VladTV interview, Odom said he believes he helped manifest the sudden and shocking rise in celebrity boxing matches in 2021 and that he also believes it will all work out someday soon so he and Paul are standing together inside a boxing ring.
First things first, though.
Odom has to defeat Carter on June 11.
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