Last month, Jake Paul announced that he would be returning to the ring in a third outing of the year, following on from his win against Nate Diaz in August.
Now, ‘The Problem Child’ has confirmed who is opponent will be, as well as other intriguing details about the card.
Paul dropped and outpointed Nate Diaz, going a full ten rounds for the first time in his career and adding the latter’s name to his ever-growing list of defeated superstars, accompanied by the likes of Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren.
However, the 26-year-old seems to have taken a different approach with his newest fight, announcing that he will face a true professional boxer, albeit a relatively unknown one, in the form of 35-year-old Andre August (10-1), to begin his ‘path to becoming a world champion’.
Ask and I shall deliver. August has more KO’s than me, more wins than me, more experience than me, but I like to gamble. The path to world champ starts here. Just straight up boxing. pic.twitter.com/5AoXxPmAPj
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) November 8, 2023
“Ask and I shall deliver. August has more KO’s than me, more wins than me, more experience than me, but I like to gamble. The path to world champ starts here. Just straight up boxing.”
Astonishingly, despite reportedly selling over five-hundred-thousand pay-per-views for his clashes with Tommy Fury and Nate Diaz, the YouTuber-turned-boxer announced that the fight card will not be on DAZN PPV and that it will instead be included in the regular subscription fee.
“I’m a professional boxer and I want to be world champion, so I need to pursue the path towards greatness against people who have been boxing their whole life,”
“So far, my entire boxing career has been on pay-per-view, but now it’s about more than business. Now I want to build my experience in the ring against seasoned fighters. I’m coming to prove my greatness on Friday, December 15th live on DAZN for the world to see.”
By his own admission, August understands that he is not going to aid pay-per-view sales, but he still looks to give the controversial cruiserweight his toughest scrap to date.
“I don’t talk very much. I’m all about that action! Jake Paul has the money, the fame, the team and the resources but he doesn’t have my hunger,”
“When that bell rings, I am going to go straight to Jake Paul and ring his bell and send him back to YouTube for good.”
Although many have longed for Paul to face boxers rather than MMA stars in the ring, there remains plenty of criticism suggesting that August is not up to scratch, with fans commenting ‘who?’, questioning the age of his opponent and calling him a ‘pretend’ boxer.
Andre August is 35 years old with a 10-1-1 record. He's fought 1 time in the last 4 years. Another pretend, old boxer
— yungkuch (@YungKuch) November 8, 2023
who?
— ollie (@BallWithOllie) November 8, 2023
This will be Paul’s lowest-profile contest to date, but he will be looking to silence his doubters and score a first win over an established professional boxer, after losing to Fury in February in the only blemish on his 7-1 record.