Jake Paul is not as good as everyone initially thought according to former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier.
Paul will face former UFC star Nate Diaz in a 185-pound eight-round boxing match set to take place August 5 in Dallas, Texas.
It will be Paul's first fight since suffering his first professional boxing defeat after losing a split decision to Tommy Fury — notably the first real professional boxer he had ever faced.
Although he managed to knock Fury down during the fight, Paul was largely outclassed by a boxer who is miles away from the boxing elite himself.
And overall, Cormier wasn't impressed with the YouTuber-turned-boxer's display.
“When watching Jake fight against Tommy Fury, he’s not as good as we originally thought,” Cormier said on DC & RC (via MMA Junkie). “Because Tommy Fury pretty much limited him to just throwing overhand rights. He didn’t have an answer for Tommy Fury, a guy that’s been boxing for as long as Fury’s been boxing. He just kept trying to hit him with the overhand right.
“I respected what he was doing because he beat Anderson (Silva) in a boxing match, and what he had did to Tyron and those guys. So, I did think that he was really improving. But I think in watching the Tommy Fury match, it showed me how limited he still is in terms of his boxing development because when that weapon (right hand) was rendered useless. He just kept going to it, and it became more and more evident that it wasn’t going to land. But he didn’t have a plan B.”
When it comes to August 5, Cormier admits size could play a factor against Diaz — who usually competed at 170 pounds in the UFC — but unlike Paul's other MMA opponents, Diaz actually has a somewhat solid background in boxing.
“I think that is where I give Nate Diaz the chance,” Cormier said. “Because Diaz has been boxing for a long time. Diaz has done rounds with Andre Ward. Diaz has been around the sport of boxing and fighting for a really long time.”
Nate Diaz will be making his professional boxing debut when he fights Jake Paul.
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