Jake Paul vs Ben Askren BUILD-UP LIVE: UK start time, stream Fite.TV, channel, undercard as YouTube star fights MMA ace

JOHN KAVANAGH WEIGHS IN

SBG Ireland chief John Kavanagh, the head coach of UFC superstar Conor McGregor, has tipped Ben Askren to upset the apple cart and stop Jake Paul.

DEEP WATERS

Ben Askren, 36, believes he’ll stop Paul, telling ESPN: “TKO [in] round seven.”

He added: “Because I don’t have a huge amount of power. It’ll take me some time to wear him down and make him hate his life.

“And then eventually he’s gonna say, ‘Hey look, I’m a rich celebrity.

“I don’t need to get f–king punched anymore. I’m just gonna roll over.'”

PROBLEM CHILD’S PREDICTION

Despite only having two fights to his name, Jake Paul reckons Ben Askren won’t land a glove on him.

He recently told ESPN: “Go Google Ben Askren’s striking. Hahaha.

“It’s not going to go that long, it’s not going to go that long.

“I don’t even think he’ll hit me. I haven’t been hit one time in the face in my past two fights.

“So I haven’t even been punched as pro boxer one time. Nate Robinson landed one body shot in a clinch.

“I don’t think Ben Askren will even hit me. That’s my prediction.”

RED DUTIES

Here’s a look at the referee and judges’ assignments for this morning’s fights.

FIRST RESULT OF THE NIGHT

CONFIRMED START TIME

Ben Askren and Jake Paul will make their respective walks to the ring at 5:00am BST time.

‘YOUTUBE B**B’

Even legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach – who Ben Askren trained with in the build-up to this morning’s fight – is getting involved in the pre-fight trash talk.

Let’s see if the Wild Card Gym owner is right at the final bell.

A QUICK GLIMPSE AT THE ARENA

The Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta is ready for one of the biggest fights of the year.

Not long now until the spectators start filling it up.

LATE ADDITION TO THE CARD

Triller have announced a late addition to the Paul vs Askren card.

And it involves none other than WWE legend Rick Flair. Flair, 72, won’t be boxing, however.

No, The Nature Boy will be the special guest referee for a a slapping match.

Yes, you read that correctly. A slapping match. As if this fight card couldn’t get any weirder.

JOR DROPPING

Ben Askren – who fights Jake Paul tonight – was on the wrong end of the fastest knockout in UFC history against Jorge Masvidal.

The welterweight pair fought at UFC 239 in July 2019 after a bitter build-up, but no one could have foreseen the dramatic early stoppage.

FIGHTING TALK

Jake Paul has thrown down one of his final social media barbs before tonight’s fight.

WHAT HAVE THEY SAID?

Jake Paul: “You f****d up, Ben by taking this fight. April 17, I promised my team, my family, my brother who is there right next to you right now, I promise to make you go down as history as the world’s worst UFC fighter.

Ben Askren: “We haven’t seen anything.

“The level of his competition was so low that it was almost impossible to tell if he is actually good at this.

“If there is one thing people respect about all fighters it’s the toughness to deal with adversity in battle and we have not seen that out of him.

“I don’t think he was hit hard by either one of those guys. They were so incredibly terrible at boxing. So we haven’t seen anything out of him yet.”

JAKE OF ALL TRADES

Jake Paul is adamant Floyd Mayweather has ‘lost his mind’ after the legendary boxer challenged him to an exhibition fight.

He told TMZ: “This guy is out of his mind! He just calls me out, out of nowhere — same with 50 Cent!

“I mean, he hasn’t even fought my brother yet. It just seems like he’s losing his marbles … like what the f*** is this guy doing?!”

PAUL TO PLAY FOR

Logan Paul mocked Ben Askren and said anyone who thinks the retired UFC welterweight will beat his brother Jake are ‘f***ing morons’.

He said: “I get it, guys I like Ben Askren. We like him, he’s a good guy, he’s funny, he’s entertaining, great personality.

“But if you think for one f***ing second, that this guy is going to beat my brother tomorrow, you’re a f***ing moron.

“Straight up. Like y’all thought and afterwards everyone’s going to be like, ‘Oh, we should have seen it coming’.

“No s***. You’re crazy.”

TALE OF THE TAPE

Here’s how Jake Paul and Ben Askren compare.

ASK AGAIN

CM Punk warned Ben Askren is being underestimated and tipped his former training partner to surprise Jake Paul.

The WWE legend shared the Roufusport gym with Askren while he trained for his two UFC fights, which he both lost.

He told TMZ Sports: “I think so, but I think it’s easy to do, based on it’s easy to sit on your couch and say that Ben isn’t a striker.

“But he’s a decelerated athlete at a very, very high level in two different sports.

“Mindset and mentally is a big thing when you’re fighting and Ben has that in spades.

“Is Ben gonna come out there and look like Muhammad Ali? No, probably not. But Ben knows what it takes to win a fight.

“The skillset in boxing is different, the rules are different, so he’s going to approach it to the best of his abilities so he can win that fight.

“And I know a lot of people are counting him out but I don’t think people should be surprised if he wins.”