Ben Askren Confesses Jake Paul ‘Is Kind of Good’ at Boxing

Ben Askren retired from MMA competition in November 2019 but was roped back into the world of combat sports with a boxing match with Youtube sensation Jake Paul. Ben Askren, who has never shied away from his own boxing credentials, firmly believed Jake Paul would be no good at boxing due to the opposition he has faced. The thirty-seven-year-old quickly found out that wasn’t the case when he woke up with his face on the canvas in round one.

Askren still refused to believe Paul was good at the sport and encouraged him to take on his friend in Tyron Woodley. After Paul edged a split-decision win over the former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Askren was left with no choice to accept Ohio born Jake Paul was pretty good at boxing.

Ben Askren on Jake Paul

“So the thing I said when I went in to fight him is maybe he’s good or maybe he’s not. We really have no idea to this point, you know,” Askren said on Lex Freidman’s podcast. “I knew that Tyron was a lot better in boxing than I was. And so I thought that there is a good likelihood that Tyron beats him up but there is a chance that Jake is kind of good at this. I think what played out is he’s kind of good at it. And if you saw the way I saw it, he was still impressive in his showing and he has obviously put a lot of time into it. So, he’s not bad, I’ll say that much.”

Jake Paul is set to take on his next monumental task between the ropes as he faces professional boxer Tommy Fury, on December 18th in Tampa, Florida. Paul enters the bout the underdog for the first time since turning to combat sports. Ben Askren has not competed since the loss to Jake Paul back in April, and we more than likely won’t see him compete again.

Let us know in the comments, do you believe Jake Paul deserves more credit in terms of his skills between the ropes?

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