Former Jake Paul opponent, Anderson Silva, has weighed in with his analysis for Paul’s recently announced bout with former UFC star, Nate Diaz, on August 5.
Silva suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Paul in October of last year, with a final round knockdown helping to give ‘The Problem Child’ a clear win on the three ringside judges’ scorecards.
However, despite the loss, Silva told Fight Hub TV that he believes Diaz is the favourite for the contest, describing him as a “beast.”
“Jake’s training a lot. People need to respect everything he’s doing, because it’s very professional and focused.”
“It’s very hard to say who wins, because both are good fighters. Nate is more experienced, he has good boxing and good cardio. I respect both.”
“Jake has a good coach, he’s very smart. The fight is not about power, it’s about timing and both have good timing. Jake has now some good experience in boxing and is learning every day.”
“But Nate is a beast! When you go to fight him, you need to prepare for war. I think he has more experience and is the favourite.”
The fight at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas will be Paul’s first outing since Tommy Fury handed him the sole defeat of his professional boxing career to date back in February.
Despite scoring a final round knockdown, Paul was bested by Fury via split decision at the Diriyah Arena in Saudi Arabia in one of the most watched fights of the year thus far.
Paul had initially stated he intended to activate a contractual rematch clause for another shot at ‘TNT,’ however this appears to have been put well on the back burner as he takes on trash talking icon Diaz this summer.