JAKE PAUL says no fighter – not even Muhammad Ali – has ‘tested themselves as much’ in their fourth professional bout as him.
The YouTuber, 24, faces boxer-turned-reality TV star Tommy Fury in Florida next month.
Paul has previously knocked out ex-NBA star Nate Robinson, 37, retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, also 37, and ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley, 39, to go 3-0 as a professional.
He also beat online rival ‘AnEsonGib’ in an amateur bout.
Now, in Fury, he faces a professional boxer for the first time in their December 18 PPV bout… and claims that makes his early career stands up alongside some of the sweet science’s all-time greats
He said: “Nobody from Muhammad Ali to Mike Tyson to Floyd Mayweather was testing themselves as much as I was in my fourth fight.
“I learned a lot about myself and what I’m capable of and performing under pressure.
“I look forward to bringing that experience to my next fight.”
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Fury will be Paul’s first opponent with prior professional boxing experience, but Askren and Woodley were both former MMA champions.
In Mayweather’s fourth fight, he beat Edgar Ayala – who later lost three more times before retiring 0-4.
Tyson knocked out Ricardo Spain, who was 1-0 at the time, in his fourth fight.
Fury is more experienced at 7-0, but has fought only journeyman opposition, a regularity for most novice boxers.
And Paul, entering his third consecutive pay-per-view headliner, believes his opponent’s inexperience on the big stage will be his downfall.
He said: “Tommy claims to have been doing this his whole life and he’s had this amateur career, and he’s been around it and that is true, but he hasn’t worked as hard as me.
“I see a green guy who hasn’t sparred enough times and who has only been put in there with opponents that were meant to lose.
“This is his first real test where his opponent just doesn’t flop over. You’re going to see that.
“You’re going to see a fighter who is a virgin, in my opinion. He has no idea what he’s getting himself into.
“This is his first time under the big lights and on the big stage, and he’s going to crack under the pressure.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
