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USA Today via Reuters

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USA Today via Reuters

Jake Paul has come a long way. From pulling off childish stunts on YouTube for the sole purpose of increasing his subscriber count to becoming a mature and disciplined boxer with a 9-1 professional record, his career took a drastic turn. Who knew that an amateur boxing fight against fellow Youtuber Deji, a rivalry forged out of back-and-forth badly made diss tracks, would eventually lead ‘The Problem Child’ to take up boxing as a life-long professional pursuit?

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“I lacked discipline, lacked routine, lacked community, lacked passion, lacked progress. Boxing gave me all of those things, and I loved punching people and getting punched! I love the pace of it, the strategy, everything behind it. It’s an art,” Paul had once stated in an interview.

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All things considered, will the basketball legend Kevin Durant be audacious enough to challenge the Ohio native? In a recent sit-down interview with the Impaulsive gang,  he revealed why it wouldn’t be a good idea to square up against the former Disney star. The answer lies in Jake Paul’s win column.

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Strong No from Kevin Durant!

In the latest Impaulsive episode, Logan Paul asked Phoenix Suns Power Forward Kevin Durant, “Will you ever throw down? Will you ever take celebrity fights?” His response was, “No!”

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But, the next question from ‘The Maverick’ turned a mild “no” into a loud and clear “hell no!”. “Against Jake Paul?” Logan Paul asked, and Kevin Durant wanted no smoke whatsoever!

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“Hell no…I see how he did with couple of NBA players…This man has been training for a long time boy,” Durant said. For those who aren’t familiar with Jake Paul’s body of work, early into his professional career, he went up against NBA player Nate Robinson in 2020 on the undercard of  Mike Tyson’s exhibition boxing match vs Roy Jones Jr. The result was a devasting second-round stoppage that sent Robinson to the shadow realm. A trio of knockdowns preceded the KO punch that sealed Nate’s fate. For any newcomer, wanting to have a showdown with the ‘Problem Child’  in the squared circle, that performance would have instilled fear in them. It seems Durant was one of them.

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Paul has a reputation for ending his fights early. With six knockouts in ten fights, he has made his reputation as a KO artist. Although he hasn’t fought any elite boxers, he has put the likes of MMA veterans like Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley to sleep. With the desire to become a world champion, he has already spent almost six years learning and honing his craft. One doesn’t need to be that sharp to see why Durant wouldn’t be interested in fighting the ‘Problem Child’ in his potential debut boxing fight.

Nevertheless, Jake Paul will be fighting BKFC star Mike Perry on July 20, after his bout with Tyson got postponed due to an unforeseen ulcer flare-up during a cross-country flight in May. With less than two weeks remaining for the showdown,  the verbal warfare reached its crescendo when Perry went on an NSFW verbal onslaught at the Cleveland native during an Instagram live session.

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The dirty language of violence! 

Not too long ago, Perry went on a rant, insulting Jake Paul and his co-host Kill Jasper. He started off his verbal assault with, “F**k both of you all, you f**king f***ots”. 

Then came a barrage of insults, safe to say, showed absolutely no respect for his upcoming opponent. Wait till I see you b**ch a**. F**k you. You a p**sy… Iamma knock your f**king teeth out. Look at your loose a** teeth, your weird a** f**king face… not symmetrical…” Perry mouthed off furiously. But the verbal tirade didn’t seem to bother Paul one bit as he and the co-host laughed at Perry losing the plot.

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Do you think Paul is now a dangerous opponent for anyone coming from a non-combat background? Could you suggest any names from the celebrity sphere who could take down Jake Paul? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Written by

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Arijit Saha

324 Articles

As a Boxing Editor at EssentiallySports, Arijit tests his knowledge of sweet science every day to ensure that ES articles do justice to the grand narratives currently populating the world of boxing. He had the privilege of covering many live boxing events for ES. His gateway to boxing was Tyson Fury's comeback fight against Deontay Wilder after many years out of the ring. Since then, Arijit has devoured old boxing footage and read up on many boxing greats like Muhammad Ali, Manny Pacquiao, and Roberto Duran. Apart from keeping up with the current developments in the boxing world, he also nurtures budding boxing writers to reach their goal of becoming storytellers. Aside from writing, he loves to spend his leisure time reading.

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Jayant Chhabra

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