Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley and boxing star Ryan Garcia have issued strong warnings to Jake Paul ahead of his December 19 clash with Anthony Joshua.
O’Malley highlighted the size difference between the fighters on his YouTube channel: “Did you see the size difference between Anthony and Jake? Did you see how huge that guy is? 6’6, 265. As a friend of Jake, I’m scared.” He stressed the risks of severe knockouts, saying, “Getting knocked out by someone like that changes lives. It doesn’t just affect your career — it can change the way you think. Bad concussions are scary.”
The ex-UFC champ added that simply lasting the full fight would count as a success: “If Jake goes to a decision and loses to A.J., I think that’s a massive win.”
Garcia, preparing for his own title fight against Mario Barrios, echoed the warning on the Emily Austin show, saying he hopes Joshua “sleeps” Paul and predicting the YouTuber-turned-boxer “will run into a lot of pain on the night.”
Paul faces a significant step up in competition against the 2012 Olympic gold medallist and two-time unified world champion at Miami’s Kaseya Centre. The fight will stream live on Netflix.
The bout was set up after Paul’s originally planned exhibition against Gervonta “Tank” Davis was cancelled due to a domestic violence lawsuit against Davis.
