Jake Paul is finally ready to have his top-of-the-line boxing match against former MMA star Ben Askren, but the YouTuber-cum-boxer has been highly interested in clashing against Conor McGregor.
While McGregor has achieved peak success in the Octagon, his solo appearance donning the sparring gloves did not go so well as the two-division UFC champion suffered a 10-round TKO against the legendary Floyd “Money” Mayweather back in 2017.
Paul, on the other hand, has garnered appreciation in the squared circle. After making his debut as a pugilist against fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib in January last year and won the match via a first-round TKO.
The 24-year-old captured the limelight in the undercard of Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr in July when he delivered a brutal knockout to former NBA star Nate Robinson and has called put multiple iconic names in the combat sports fraternity, among which the “Notorious” McGregor peak his interest.
Although the Irishman has expressed little to no interest in locking horns against Jake, McGregor did insist that in the ring he would knock the YouTuber out cold.
Conor McGregor can’t box: Ryan Garcia
Ryan Garcia, however, has shown interest in such a mouth-watering boxing card between Conor McGregor and Jake Paul, and while not downplaying Conor’s abilities, has stated that the MMA icon “cannot box” and gives Jake the upper hand.
“People can say whatever they want. When I watched Conor fight Mayweather. Conor can’t box. He can’t box,” the 22-year-old boxer said in an interview with SportsJOE.
Recalling the fight against Mayweather, Garcia opined that Cor’s punches did not have any “torque” in them and despite the fifteen times world champion boxer being an intimidating enough opponent, Garcia feels it would be wise for Conor to face Jake in an MMA fight rather than boxing.
“Can you make improvements? Of course, anybody can. How much can you? I don’t know,” the WBC interim champion went on, “he steps into the ring again with anybody good, he’s not going to win. He’s just not. I think him and Jake Paul, if he brings the same fight he brought to Floyd against Jake Paul, that’s more competitive. I promise you.”
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While admitting that Conor can win the contest against Jake, Garcia feels he will not be able to earn a knockout victory and is ready to bet 100k on that notion.
“I’ll put a hundred thousand dollars he won’t knock out Jake Paul. You can mark it down right now. I’ll put a hundred thousand he won’t be able to knock out Jake Paul. Will he beat him? Maybe. He won’t knock him out though,” Garcia added.