Former Boston Celtic reserve guard Nate Robinson will take on YouTube celebrity Jake Paul in a boxing match planned as the undercard of the Mike Tyson – Roy Jones Jr. fight set to take place on September 12th, and has been training with professional boxers in preparation for the match.
Robinson has been training with heavyweight boxer Ron “The American Dream” Johnson in particular, putting out a video exclusive to USA TODAY discussing their partnership for this fight.
Johnson is a four-time boxing champion and current Current GBO Heavyweight Boxing Champ, one of several reportedly helping Robinson get his sea legs ahead of the high-profile bout.
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“Ron! Thank you my brother, I know this is last minute man,” began Robinson in the video.
“I know you’re a champ; I want to learn from you, bro. I appreciate you for opening your home to me, man — this is pretty cool. Shouts to all the people out there that’s trying to box, that’s trying to do it up.
I’m showing y’all that you’ve got to go for it and go do it. It’s been pretty cool. Great Day, learned some new tricks man and hopefully I can get this done and get this championship and kick Jake Paul’s ass — that’s what we’re here for, man.”
“Y’all know what it is, man,” he added. “Shout out to the peaceful — everybody, peace and love.”
Both fighters have released training montages on their respective Instagram accounts ahead of the contest.
The two Instagram clips feature each fighter in the ring sparring with a trainer.
Neither look especially skillful at the craft, which shouldn’t surprise too much given their non-professional status as fighters.
Thankfully, the mid-September match is far enough away still that both amateur boxers can pick up some more tricks to make the meeting as interesting of an affair as their hype videos wants us to expect.
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