Jake Paul: "I shocked the world when I knocked out an NBA superstar athlete but still some people complained that he's not a real fighter. So now I'm giving the people what they want by taking on a real fighter. After I add Ben to my knockout meme collection, what can anybody say?"
Tuesday 26 January 2021 16:28, UK
YouTuber Jake Paul will return to the boxing ring to meet former UFC fighter Ben Askren on April 17.
Paul has relentlessly mocked Conor McGregor recently, particularly in the days since the UFC superstar's latest defeat to Dustin Poirier.
But Paul will step back into the ring in an eight-rounder against a different fighter from the mixed martial arts world - Askren retired from the UFC just over a year ago.
Paul said: "[Askren] has less losses on his record than Conor McGregor does yet I'm still going to knock him out faster than Jorge Masvidal did.
"Some MMA guys think that because they throw punches they know how to box.
"I shocked the world when I knocked out an NBA superstar athlete but still some people complained that he's not a real fighter.
"So now I'm giving the people what they want by taking on a real fighter.
"After I add Ben to my knockout meme collection, what can anybody say?"
The fight will be at an event called 'The Fight Club' run by the rapper Snoop Dogg, the social networking app Triller and Ryan Kavanaugh.
Askren ended his MMA career with two losses from 22 fights - one of those was a notorious knockout loss in just five seconds against Masvidal.
Paul, who has more than 20 million YouTube subscribers and 14 million Instagram followers, has won both of his boxing matches via knockout.
He first stepped into the ring against fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib and, more recently, beat former basketball professional Nate Robinson.
His brother Logan Paul lost the most high-profile YouTuber boxing match against KSI.