Editor’s note: This article was originally published on MMAJunkie.com.
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Jake Paul is feeling very confident ahead of the toughest test of his young boxing career and suspects his opponent isn’t taking him seriously as an opponent.
Later this month, Paul will enter the boxing ring to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, the most dangerous opponent for Paul through three professional fights.
Paul is undefeated in his career thus far, having defeated Youtuber Ali Eson Gib, former NBA star Nate Robinson, and former UFC welterweight Ben Askren. Woodley’s combat sports resume is vastly different, as an MMA fighter with 28 professional fights and a well-respected title run in the biggest promotion on the globe.
Despite their differences on paper, Paul believes Woodley could be making a mistake by overlooking him as an opponent.
“I think he’s just going through the motions,” Paul told MMA Junkie. “I don’t know if he has really digested how good of a fighter I am. I still think there’s like this mental block for him where he’s just like, ‘Oh, this kid’s a YouTuber. How hard could this fight be?’”
The boxing match against Paul came to fruition for Woodley after a backstage altercation that occurred when his friend and training partner, Askren, took on Paul in April. Woodley will enter the boxing ring after exiting the UFC on a four-fight losing streak that started with dropping the welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235.
“He says he’s training hard, and he says he’s doing all the right things, but I still think in the back of his head he’s like, ‘I’ve fought Kamaru Usman, I fought Gilbert Burns. This is gonna be an easy fight.’”
Woodley has been very active on social media posting clips of his training in addition to releasing episodes of his behind-the-scenes fight camp series called “Champ Camp” on YouTube. As a part of his training camp, Woodley turned to boxing legend Floyd Mayweather to prepare for the fight. Mayweather recently fought Jake’s brother, Logan Paul, in a boxing exhibition that went the distance.
“I’ve seen the little clips of him and Floyd training,” Paul said. “Floyd’s telling him the same thing, you know, like, ‘Just go out there and fight, he’s not a real fighter. He’s never been in there with a real fighter.’
“Them underestimating me will be the biggest mistake and he will be exposed for that.”
Paul vs. Woodley takes place on Aug. 29 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, airing on Showtime pay-per-view.
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