Cruiserweight Jake Paul (6-1, 4 KOs) will be looking to bounce back from his recent loss to defensive artist Tommy Fury when he faces Nate Diaz in a 10 round fight tonight on August 5th LIVE on DAZN PPV (worldwide), ESPN+ (US) and PPV.com (US) at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The event starts at 8:00 p.m. ET.
(Credit: Most Valuable Promotions/Esther Lin)
The former UFC Diaz is making his pro debut in boxing at 38, but he’s well-preserved for a fighter that has been involved in combat sports for many years.
In a recent sparring clip on Youtube, Diaz showed excellent power to the head & body. The only negative is he looks like an MMA guy, standing close & slightly bent forward.
If Diaz fights like that on Saturday night, he’ll be in the line of fire for Jake’s powerful chopping right overhand shots, which is his bread & butter punch. Diaz won’t last long if he allows Jake to bounce chopping right hands off the top of his head.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Nate adapts to fighting in a boxing ring, as he won’t be able to use his choke holds and grappling skills against Jake without being penalized.
With this fight being on PPV, fans be furious if the contest ends with a disqualification due to Diaz getting angry, frustrated, or just forgetting where he’s at and starts kicking, choking & body-slamming Jake.
If Jake loses this fight, it could be all over for him in terms of his boxing career. It’s one thing getting beaten by a British-level fighter like Tommy Fury, but losing to an old guy making his debut in boxing would have to be seen as the end.
Boxing isn’t a part-time sport, and one gets the sense that’s how Jake treats it.
Complete card:
Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz
Amanda Serrano vs. Heather Hardy
William Silva vs. Ashton Sylve
Chris Avila vs. Jeremy Stephens
Olivia Curry vs. Shadasia Green
Alan Sanchez vs. Angel Beltran
Quilisto Madera vs. Kevin Newman II
Jose Aguayo vs. Noel Cavazos
Luciano Ramos vs. CJ Hamilton
Jake Paul: “It’s a big business and big show. The fans are out,
the energy is up, and I’m feeling good, so it’s fun,” said Jake Paul to DAZN Boxing today.
Ariel Helwani: “We all kind of wondered in February after the [Tommy] Fury fight if that would be it. If you ever considered for a moment saying, ‘This has been fun. I reached the end of the road. Let me go make my million somewhere else. Let me do my thing.’ Did you ever for a moment consider that?”
Jake Paul: “That was definitely a thought because you have to process that thought to double down and reconfirm your beliefs on the opposite side of the decision, which is, I’m going to go harder.
“I’m going to commit myself even more, and the next day was really when that thought came up the Sunday after the loss. I just was like, ‘Okay, let me think about this. Is that what I want to do? Absolutely not. I’m doubling down.’
“This is what I was made to do. I’m a fighter, and I’m a winner. That was my worst performance ever. I didn’t do good, and I know I could do better.
“One loss doesn’t define me, and look at all the wins I have. Look at all the other amazing accomplishments I’ve had, and this loss, I believe, put me on a track that I was supposed to be on before.”
Helwani: “Okay, so that thought just lasted like 24 hours, if that?”
Jake: “It lasted like two minutes.”
Helwani: “Two minutes, okay.”
Jake: “I was just like, ‘I’m not a quitter. I’m not a quitter.’ I had a bad performance I’m going to take It on the chin also; a lot of people are following me, a lot of kids, and a lot of people look up to me. What am I going to do? Give up because I lost once?
“When everything got hard, that’s when I quit? No, I’m setting an example for other kids out there who are chasing wild dreams to not just stutter in the face of adversity in the face of adversity.
“We rise, we get better, and we come back stronger, and that’s really what I want to prove to people this Saturday is how to come back from a loss and how to take that, and it only makes you better.
Helwani: “Okay, so if that’s the mindset, why’d you choose Diaz instead of Fury 2 right away?”
Jake: We were talking to Fury, trying to make that happen, but the plan really always was to go to Nate Diaz after Tommy Fury. Even
in the lead-up, it was ‘Nate Diaz is after this, win, lose, or draw,’ and Nate Diaz is out of the UFC right now, so you have to strike while the iron’s hot.
“Who knows who we would have fought? I think he wants to go back to the UFC, so I’m taking this opportunity while it’s here, and that Tommy fight is going to come soon enough.”
Helwani: “So Nate’s manager and advisor, a guy by the name of Zach Rosenfield, told this story to ESPN today to Marker Monday. He told it to me privately, but he said it publicly today. He said that their plan after that fight was to fight your brother Logan and then there’s an actor named Michael Rappaport.
“Are you familiar with Michael Rapaport? He’s not the biggest fan of yours, but anyway, he’s an actor and comedian. He was on my show, and he’s a huge DS fan, and he said, ‘You know what’s the fight I want? I want Jake versus Nate.
“That’s the fight. Zach was watching the show, and when he saw that and how Michael was so into it, in his mind, he said this publicly. He pivoted. He’s like, ‘Forget about the local fight. We have to go after the Jake fight, and that’s how it started to get in motion.'”
