Jake Paul and Anderson Silva will do battle on October 29, with the YouTuber-turned-boxer finally facing an opponent with a winning boxing record.
Fans will still complain that Silva is 47-years-old and not a fully legitimate boxer, but he has a number of things that Paul needs to tick off his list. He is physically bigger than the social media star, and has a winning professional boxing record that includes a scalp over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr; a former world champion.
Paul has indicated he will fight KSI, his long-time YouTube rival, next summer at Wembley Stadium in a huge winner-take-all showdown. But he will still have to tick over with more fights against the likes of Silva after spending what will have been over 10 months out of the ring when he faces the UFC superstar.
Here's how the two men stack up against one another....
Jake Paul
Starting as a YouTuber making millions from his video blogs and Disney Channel show, Paul didn't get into the fight game until a 2018 white-collar bout with British YouTuber Deji. He had grown up a major fan of the UFC and both he and his brother Logan were high school wrestlers in the famously competitive state of Ohio.
However, he appears to have found a real passion in his life for boxing, where he has put together a 5-0 professional record that he puts on the line against Silva on October 29. The former social media star has knocked out all five of the men he has fought at amateur and professional level.
The closest he came to a defeat was being taken to a split decision by former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in August of last year. After Tommy Fury pulled out of the first of two dates back in December, Woodley was drafted in for a rematch, in which he was viciously knocked out.
Paul will finally test himself against a bigger boxer with a winning professional record when he faces Silva in his next outing. He stands at 6'1" and at 25-years-old is still yet to hit his athletic prime, and despite insisting that he will be the underdog in his next fight, he expects.
Anderson Silva
There was a time when it appeared that Anderson Silva was unbeatable. His record-breaking 2,457-day, 16-fight winning streak landed him in the history books as he powered through legends of the sport like Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Stephan Bonnar before eventually losing his belt to Chris Weidman.
After Weidman stopped him with a massive knockout in July 2013, Silva returned quickly by December for his rematch in which he broke his leg during the second round and was stretchered out for a second consecutive loss. He beat Nick Diaz right afterwards, but the result was overturned and in the following seven years he managed just one win and was dropped from the UFC in 2020.
Dana White implored Silva to retire at the age of 45, but he was determined to stick around in combat sports. The Brazilian has since reinvented himself in boxing, winning his two comeback fights against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Tito Ortiz, as well as dominating an exhibition against Bruno Machado on Floyd Mayweather's latest card.
Silva stands at 6'2", making him the first opponent Paul will have faced who is bigger than the YouTuber. He also has a 77.5" reach advantage, which gives him a 1.5" reach advantage over his opponent.
