Johnny Nelson shares his thoughts on Saturdays Jake Paul fight
Johnny Nelson shares his thoughts on the upcoming Jake Paul fight against Anderson Silva that takes place this Saturday:
Interviewer: Jake Paul is set to fight Anderson Silver, the UFC legend, in October. From what you’ve seen from Jake Paul, do you think he’s capable of defeating someone like Silver in a boxing battle?
JN: Well, he’s taken off a bit more than he can chew here because he’s going in with an established fighter. Yes, the guy’s old enough to be his dad but he still has the knowledge experience and the natural fitness.
The only thing is, when you’ve got an MMA fighter getting into boxing, it’s two different things – people found out when Conor McGregor boxed Mayweather. So, Anderson Silver will have the movement, the pace, but Jake Paul is a novice. But he’s [Jake] not a bad boxer. He’s not a brilliant boxer, he’s not a bad boxer.
Interviewer: Eddie Hearn called him [Jake] a bang average boxer, and he said don’t take that as an insult, by the way, being an average boxer…
JN: …with world class attention. And that’s what he’s saying, and that’s what he is. He’s an average boxer with world class attention, and that’s why other fighters probably resent him, because of the attention and the money he’s attracting.
Interviewer: It feels observed.
JN: Yeah, that’s right. And he [Jake] knows that and plays on that and that’s where the problem is. But he is an average boxer. He’s nothing special.
Interviewer: Carrying on with Jake Paul, he’s been publicly calling out Tommy Fury, Tyson’s brother, online for ages now. Looking as though a fight is just never going to materialise in the end, whether it’s Tommy Fury not being able to get a visa into the States or whatever the situation is.
Do you think that fight’s ever going to go ahead and if it does, who do you think would win?
JN: It might happen here in the UK and if it does, Jake Paul might decide to try and sell out Wembley or something like that, because he can put bums on seats.
But that’s a good fight – you’ve got two guys that are of the same ability. You know, Tommy Fury, because he’s a Fury doesn’t mean he’s Tyson Fury, and I think these guys are probably at the same level. Good little fight.
Interviewer: So, if you had to call it one way from what you’ve seen from the both of them?
JN: If I call it one way, it’s 50/50. I wouldn’t say Tommy Fury beats him [Jake], so 50/50. Tommy Fury is again an average fighter. Yeah, he’s got the Fury name, so he’s got the fury attention, but he’s average.
Interviewer: In August we saw the YouTuber boxing event by the UK guys and the KSI event. Did you watch any of that and what’s your thoughts on the entire YouTube boxing thing as a whole?
JN: On the 12th of November, Floyd Mayweather is fighting Deji. So, Floyd’s people have asked me to go out and do the commentary. But I think we’ve got a show on ourselves with Ricky Hatton in Manchester, so I won’t be able to do it.
So, what’s happening is, you’ve got all the YouTubers influxing into sport, football as well as boxing, and they’re diluting the ethics and the authenticity and the talent. But what do you go for? Businesses, bums on seats, eyes on the prize? Talent is when you’ve got some outstanding boxers, and that’s what you watch the game for.
It’s going to come to a head soon, where a YouTuber that’s probably got like 18 million people following them is going to get proper schooled by somebody that they’ve underestimated or that they’ve taken one step too far. And so, as long as they stay within their lane, they’ll be alright. Stepping out of the lane’s a problem.
Interviewer: Do you think it’s a net positive or a net negative for boxing as a whole?
JN: On the one side you get the money and the attention and people interested in boxing. But on the downside, you’ve got really talented boxers that aren’t getting the same attention and money because you’ve got these guys who are basically amateurs, but they’re getting all the attention because they’ve got a lot of followers.
Taken from an interview with permission with Johnny Nelson during a Wren Kitchens showroom opening in Sheffield.
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