Jake Paul's next few opponents have been warned that if they want to take his unbeaten record, they'll have to "kill him".
His coach Danny Smith has been quietly working with the YouTube star during his hiatus from the ring after knocking out former UFC champion Tyron Woodley. And Smith, a veteran boxing mind, believes that Paul has the same mindset that fighters who come from poverty are born with, meaning he will take punishment in order to win a fight.
Paul looks set to face Tommy Fury on August 6 in his ring return, with the YouTuber signed on for a fight date at Madison Square Garden. But Smith seems to have taken a leaf from Tommy's brother; the world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who said in 2017 that you would have to nail him to the canvas to win a fight against him.
“He has a love for training and he is a true student," Smith told Vegas Insider. "He's listening. He's so dedicated. He's so invested. And he's someone that invests not just their money and their time, but their every thought and effort and desire. His mentality and his will is so frickin' strong. I would say Diego Corrales is like Jake. You almost have to kill them to beat them. Jake has that will.
“I think it comes from some trauma as a kid in his past. So there was some bullying going on somewhere, possibly. There's a lot of rage and anger or something in his childhood. And that's what normally elevates fighters, like the ones that come from poverty. It's the same kind of drama and anger and abuse somewhere. And they release it into boxing.”
Paul and Fury were supposed to fight back in December, but the Brit was forced out with a broken rib that kept him from competition until April. Then, he defeated Daniel Bocianski on his brother's Wembley Stadium undercard to hopefully set up a mega money fight with Paul.
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And Smith believes that he has been improving gradually during his time off, and will surprise pundits who fear he's not ready for an 8-0 prospect like Fury. “The media and a lot of fighters don't know how well he's progressing and they really don't know how serious he is," he continued.
"And they're going to be underestimating him when they get in there until they feel his presence, his strength, his power, his speed. We've noticed that with a lot of sparring partners because they get in there and they're like: 'wow, it's a life or death situation in there with him and he's better than we thought' the world is going to see that.
"The most important thing that I'm working on is his defence, his understanding of the selection of punches that you can throw and that same selection of punches that can come back. So defence is a huge factor in surviving in boxing.”
