Terence Crawford likes what he’s seen from Jake Paul.
“The Problem Child” defeated BKFC star Mike Perry via sixth-round knockout earlier this month, prompting a mixture of reactions from the MMA community. Crawford, arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet, isn’t among Paul’s many detractors.
“I think Jake is getting better,” Crawford said on The MMA Hour. “He may need to work on his stamina a little bit, but for the most part, I gained a lot of respect for Jake because he’s not a YouTuber that’s just boxing just to box. He actually trains and actually wants to get better and actually has got better, really putting his time, focus, and energy into boxing, so you’ve got to respect that.”
Paul rose to fame as a YouTube star, actor, and social media influencer, before committing to a pro boxing career in 2020. He’s since knocked off a litany of stars from the MMA world including former UFC champions Anderson Silva and Tyron Woodley, as well as Perry, Nate Diaz, and Ben Askren.
The lone loss of Paul’s career came against Tommy Fury, a reality TV star with a legitimate boxing background who also happens to be the brother of former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. That result raised questions as to how successful Paul will be should he face more experienced boxers in the future.
Paul, 27, has said on multiple occasions that his goal is to win a boxing championship. At the moment, it appears that Paul would be best suited to compete in the cruiserweight division, and Crawford sees a contender path for Paul there.
“It’s possible,” Crawford said. “Listen, a lot of people write Jake off, but Jake can punch with that right hand. He’s got a nice right hand. He’s building himself up just like a regular boxer. People got to understand, people look at Jake and say, ‘Well, Jake, he needs to fight me. Jake needs to fight me. Jake needs to fight me.’ Everybody’s grabbing for the attention to fight Jake at this moment, but it’s just like a professional boxer coming up in the rankings. They’re not going straight to the champion. They’re going to work their way up and fight the best fights they can learn from. Not get beat, learn from.
“Right now Jake is still in the learning process, he’s only got [11] fights, so he’s taking his time and that’s what he should do. Take your time, keep getting better, keep learning, new tricks and things like that in the ring, keep getting more experience, then sooner or later once you start picking up the fights with better competition, then you’ll be ready for those moments because you build the ring IQ. You build the stamina. You build everything that you need to know in those early fights to keep gradually getting better in bigger and better fights.”
As much as Crawford encourages Paul to keep refining his craft, he could do without one upcoming Paul venture: a high-profile fight with boxing legend Mike Tyson on Nov. 15 in Arlington, Texas.
Paul and Tyson were supposed to fight on July 20 before Perry had to step in for Tyson, who pulled out of that date due to health problems interfering with his training. Many, including UFC star Dustin Poirier, have questioned whether the bout should proceed given that Tyson recently turned 58 and has not competed professionally since 2005.
Crawford is among those uninterested in the re-booking.
“I think Mike Tyson is an icon in boxing and he’s done a lot for boxing in his own right and I just think Mike is past his prime,” Crawford said. “Mike is old. I wouldn’t want to see Mike go in the ring and get hurt. A fight where he’s just doing it just for the money or entertainment, I just think him having his health problems is another added reason why I don’t want to see him in the ring.”
Crawford challenges WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov this Saturday, August 3.
