Eddie Hearn and Jake Paul may be chumming it up ahead of their co-promoted fight between Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor — which goes down this Saturday (April 30, 2022) in New York City — but that hasn’t stopped Hearn from telling the YouTube star-turned boxer how he really feels about his pugilistic skills.
During a recent joint media scrum in “The Big Apple,” Hearn pulled no punches when talking about Paul’s skills as a boxer. While he was complimentary to an extent, he let it be known to “The Problem Child” that he still hasn’t come close to facing real competition.
Furthermore, Hearn says Paul will never reach the pinnacle of the sport.
“I think there’s absolutely no way he can beat a world champion and become world champion,” Hearn said via The Mac Life. “I will say he’s improving a lot, he’s dedicated to the sport. I don’t how good he is because he hasn’t faced a real fighter yet. It’s not his fault, he signed to fight Tommy Fury.”
Naturally, Paul had to defend himself by saying he knocked out former UFC champion, Tyron Woodley, though it was an argument that was quickly dismissed by the long-time boxing promoter.
“A five-time world champion in Tyron Woodley is a real fighter,” Paul argued before Hearn stopped him in his tracks. “Mate, he’s not a real boxer.”
“I mean, the first skill of MMA is boxing. He won the UFC championship with a right hand,” Paul continued. “You consider Tommy Fury a real boxer?”
“Not in terms of ability,” Hearn replied. “A real boxer is someone who that is his craft. What I’m saying is [Woodley] does not give you any right to talk about a world title, and nor does Tommy Fury actually. I’ll give you the props, I’ll give you the respect. You’re improving all the time, but the proof will be in the pudding. By the way, I’ve said it that Jake Paul is better than some fighters,” he added before putting the final nail in the coffin in his argument.
“But, I don’t believe you’ll ever get close to being a world-class fighter,” Hearn concluded.
In addition, Paul claimed that he would defeat any fighter on Hearn’s massive roster in any division who has less than 10 fights on his record. It’s a challenge Hearn said he would quickly accept, saying he will have no shortage of “real boxers” chomping at the bit to take on Paul.