FANS have sensationally suggested Jake Paul’s fight was Ben Askren was FIXED as shock conspiracy theories swarmed social media.
Paul, 24, extended his professional boxing record to 3-0 with a brutal first-round KO of former UFC star Askren on Saturday night.
But viewers have been left convinced the result of the fight was pre-determined for a number of intriguing reasons.
Fans have suggested Askren – who retired from MMA in 2019 – was happy to lose to Paul and agreed to do so at the time of signing up for the fight.
The theory claims Paul was itching to be taken more seriously as a boxer – having only fought fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.
It’s suggested he therefore asked the ex-UFC grappler to help boost his credibility with a massively-hyped, but ultimately fixed, fight.
After the fight, Askren, 36, claimed losing to Paul was ‘f***ing embarrassing’ – but he said so with a beaming grin on his face.
He was also spotted smiling and laughing as he exited the ring just moments after being knocked out.
UFC fans were left particularly perplexed by his KO, sharing videos of Askren ‘eating punches’ from Robbie Lawler in March 2019 – his last professional MMA win.
Taking to Twitter, one viewer shared a video of the battering, captioned: “Askren ate these punches from Lawler but couldn’t take one punch from Jake Paul?”
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The conspiracy theory continued by pointing to the fact boxing fans are saying Paul only won as he wasn’t fighting a ‘real’ boxer – therefore suggesting the YouTuber is now a ‘real’ boxer himself.
That therefore opens Paul up to securing a fight with a pro boxer in the coming months.
In the meantime, Paul has been able to train without the pressure of taking on a professional, out-and-out boxer and improve his skills.
He was also able to boost his pro record to 3-0 and his stock continues to rise.
Of course, all of this ‘evidence’ is purely circumstantial – there is still every chance Paul was just the better fighter on the night.
After all, the punch that floored Askren was a crunching right-hook.
And while Askren was used to ‘eating punches’ while on the canvas, surviving one while standing up and caught off guard is a different skill altogether.
Paul angrily refuted claims of a ‘rigged’ fight, tweeting: “Everyone saying the fight was rigged is tweeting off their moms WiFi.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
