Ben Askren admits Jake Paul ‘is kind of good’ at boxing

Ben Askren, who was considered Jake Paul’s first real test, admits the brash YouTuber turned boxer is pretty good at boxing.

Askren ended his retirement to box Paul and in the lead-up to the fight, he made it clear he didn’t think the Disney actor turned Youtuber turned boxer was good. He was just 2-0 with knockout wins over former NBA player Nate Robinson, and YouTuber, AnEsonGib. However, Paul scored a vicious first-round KO over Askren in their boxing match back in April.

Although Jake Paul beat Ben Askren, “Funky” wouldn’t admit the YouTuber was good. Instead, he told him to box Tyron Woodley, and after Paul beat Woodley by split decision. Now, the former ONE Championship and Bellator champion says the YouTuber is pretty good at boxing.

“So the thing I said when I went in to fight him [Jake Paul] is maybe he’s good or maybe he’s not. We really have no idea to this point, you know,” Askren said on Lex Freidman’s podcast. “I knew that Tyron was a lot better in boxing than I was. And so I thought that there is a good likelihood that Tyron beats him up but there is a chance that Jake is kind of good at this. I think what played out is he’s kind of good at it. And if you saw the way I saw it, he was still impressive in his showing and he has obviously put a lot of time into it. So, he’s not bad, I’ll say that much.”

Jake Paul is now set to box Tommy Fury on December 18 in Tampa. It will be another highly-anticipated fight and entering the scrap, Paul is the betting underdog for the first time in his career. As for Askren, he has not competed since the loss to Paul and likely won’t as he was retired before.

Do you agree with Ben Askren that Jake Paul is good at boxing?