World champion Lawrence Okolie has declared that Jake Paul is ‘better than most boxers’, after training with the YouTube star on Wednesday.
Paul is 6-0 as a professional boxer with five knockouts to his name, and the 25-year-old most recently outpointed Anderson Silva in late October after knocking down the UFC legend in the final round.
Paul is yet to fight a professional boxer, having twice seen bouts with Tommy Fury – half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson – fall through, as well as a planned contest with Hasim Rahman Jr. While some boxing fans have criticised the American for having not yet faced a pro boxer, Okolie defended Paul.
“He’s better than most boxers,” the Briton said on Wednesday (9 November), per Talksport.
“People just hate because of his influencer background.”
Okolie’s comments came after the WBO cruiserweight champion trained with Paul in Dubai.
Okolie is unbeaten at 18-0 (14 KOs), having most recently beaten Michal Cieslak via unanimous decision in February.
The 29-year-old, a friend of former two-time world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, is currently without an opponent or return date.
After Paul’s last fight, the YouTuber called out UFC icon Nate Diaz and multiple-weight boxing world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez.
