Social media star Jake Paul took another advancement in his boxing career Saturday night with a brutal first-round knockout of former MMA world champion Ben Askren.
The match was a a scheduled eight-round cruiserweight fight on a Triller Fight Club pay-per-view but did not last any longer than a two minutes in the first round itself.
After being accompanied by robot to the ring, Paul got straight into business. After a few partially connected punches and blocks from both the fighters, things started getting real.
From the start Jake looked sharp with his footwork and movement, whereas Ben looked sloppy and almost zero footwork. Also, Ben was never known as a striker in his successful mixed martial arts career, in the bout against Jake he sought to grapple him time and time again.
Even before Askren could think of anything, a crushing overhand right from Paul sent him straight to the floor. Ben managed to beat the count, but unable to walk straight when the referee asked him to which made the ref to officially call the fight off at the 1:59 mark of Round 1.
As the bell rung, with Jake winning from a TKO he jumped on the turnbuckle with an explosion of fireworks. “It’s been four months, I’ve been in training camp every day,” Paul said after his win. “I deserve this shit. I don’t know how many times I have to prove myself that this is for real.”
This further ups his tally to 3-0 with three knockouts. But critics still say that in order for him to be taken seriously, Paul’s going to need to face a legitimate fighter and not someone who isn’t a competent striker. For the least he has proved that he has skill and dedication.
Ben Askren looked calm while talking to reporters after the fight. “I wasn’t nervous at all because at the end of the day, my life doesn’t change one way or the other,” Askren said. “In MMA, I was always pursuing or defending a world title, and you know, today, I was doing a fun boxing match. If it turned out great, then great. If it turned out shit, then my life is the same. So there were really no nerves whatsoever.”
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