Shutterstock
Jake Paul’s return to the boxing ring is now official, and his opponent is an established former mixed martial artist.
On Tuesday, ESPN.com confirmed that Paul will be facing off against former Bellator and One Championship welterweight champion Ben Askren on April 17 live on pay-per-view.
The bout will be an 8 round pro boxing match.
“I know Jake Paul is enjoying pretending he is a fighter,” Askren told ESPN. “I think on April 17 he is going to have a rude awakening to what being a fighter is really like.
“Jake has led a privileged life and doesn’t really know what the meaning of being a fighter is. I’m going to put his dreams to an end.”
Paul vs. Askren will serve as the main event. The full fight card has not been announced at this time.
“Ben Askren is a two-time NCAA champion, a world champion in two different global mixed martial arts organizations and has less losses on his record than Conor McGregor. Me, on the other hand, I started boxing two years ago and I’m still going to knock his ass out faster than Masvidal,” Paul added.
“These MMA guys think because they throw punches they know how to box. The world complained because I knocked out a basketball player and not a real fighter. So now I’m giving the people what they want by taking on a ‘real fighter.’ After Ben Askren is added to my knockout meme collection, what can anybody say? Thank you to Triller Fight Club for giving me the platform to once again put a man to sleep. April 17, it’s lights out for Askren.”In his last appearance inside of the ring, Paul viciously knocked out former NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner Nate Robinson on the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view.
We’ll have to see if he can find the same success against a real fighter.
