Lawrence Okolie has provided more information on the gym session that led him to state Jake Paul was ‘better than most boxers.’
Paul gained some respect in the sport recently, with the WBO Cruiserweight Champion posting a picture of them together and the bold caption.
The American has turned his attention from YouTube to fighting recently, and is coming off a career-best win against mixed martial arts legend, Anderson Silva.
‘The Sauce’ caught up with The Mirror recently, laying out the criteria for someone to gain his respect in the sport.
“At the end of the day, they way I look at it is that if you want to take up boxing I want to see you put in the work. I want to see that it’s not a joke to you.”
When it comes to Jake Paul, Okolie recognised that he’s taking boxing seriously and enjoyed their training session together.
“Of course he’s the ‘Problem Child’ and a bad boy but we trained, he trains hard and he gave it his best shot when he was in the ring with me or whoever else. You’ve got to give the guy his credit and understand that he’s in a position where most boxers don’t have millions of pounds or dollars.
He’s already made millions in boxing and outside of boxing, so for him to risk his life, which is what he does every time he gets in the ring, for his goals and aspirations I have to respect it… We had a good sort of mix and worked through some motions and he put in the work.”
As it stands, neither man has a ring return pencilled in. Jake Paul versus Tommy Fury is possibly slated for 2023, with the two in talks following two previously scheduled bouts. As for Okolie, he may have a legal battle before a physical one as tensions heat up between him and his current promotional team.
When asked if he would be working with Paul in the future, Okolie said it was too soon to tell. In what capacity he didn’t mention, but given he’s apparently in the market for a promoter and Paul has a fledgling company that does just that, it wouldn’t be out of the question.