Former professional boxer and four-time world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield says he would be interested in getting into the ring with YouTube sensation Jake Paul – if the money is right.
Jake Paul has taken the internet by storm with his boxing antics, including a recent knockout in round one against former UFC mixed martial artist Ben Askren, and Holyfield has taken notice.
While the “problem child” has proven to be just that, even going as far as sabotaging brother Logan’s press conference ahead of his bout with Floyd Mayweather, Jake is showing no signs of stopping.
Now, as he eagerly awaits his next opponent (of which he seems to have many to choose from), Holyfield says he’s down to get a piece of the amateur boxer himself.
In an interview with The Sun, the 58-year-old boxing legend dismissed Paul as “a guy who didn’t come through amateurs” and just fights as a “hobby.”
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“He has a little bit more weight behind how to do things because people like him are doing it for the fun of it,” Holyfield claimed. “The thing is, it’s about ego, what he’s doing. People he wants to fight, if people agree to fight him, they know he’s got all these followers.”
Despite being out of action for ten years, Holyfield says he would have no problem duking it out with Jake Paul. “If he believes he can beat me, and he gave me enough money, oh, yes, I’d get in the ring with him,” the real deal said. “And I’d show people what would happen.”
So far, Jake Paul hasn’t responded to the challenge, but given how the two boxers have a good relationship and even previously trained together, it’s possible that the YouTuber could step up.
It would definitely be an interesting bout, especially considering Holyfield’s legendary history and Paul’s own knockout power, which has paved the way to his undefeated 3-0 record. Hopefully, this challenge wasn’t just talk, and something concrete materializes between the two in the near future.
