I'd prefer Tommy Fury, but honestly I feel like Tommy's trying to get free publicity rather than actually wanting that fight. I see him as a reality star more than a boxer, and I think the Fury family somewhat sees it the same way.
Anyway, Anderson Silva is a real test despite not being a proper boxer. He's got the skills, and evasiveness, maybe not so much these days, but it's a risky fight for Jake. You'd expect Jake to win, and I imagine the odds would reflect that, but if he doesn't then he's been up staged by a ageing MMA veteran.
I'd be absolutely shocked if he manages to make easy work of him on the other hand, so I don't think this is a easy fight. Unlike his previous fights, Anderson isn't gun shy, and knows how to box. So, we'll see some activity. I said in another thread though, I bloody hope he doesn't knock Silva out, as I'd be devastated.
I dunno. I think he's kinda desperate for this fight given his social media posts. He couldn't do anything about the broken rib the first time and now it's the visa issues which prevent him from fighting in the states, though given that Tommy didn't even bother going to the embassy to try sort it had made me question his motives. I still think this is the best fight for both of them. Tommy will be getting next to nothing for his fights on Tyson's or whoever's undercard whereas he's going to get millions for fighting Jake and it's going to give him huge publicity in the states where he's a essentially a nobody right now or at the most just Tyson's little brother but I'm sure most people still don't know who he is.
It will be fun to see Jake fall down to the ground and stop looking down at the UFC fighters but he actually has the chance to also KO Silva. Silva is not very mobile because of his leg injury, seems very delicate for him to do some side steps that might crack again. When you get old, your bones get brittle and brittle. Not much difference in their reach so Jake could also throw jabs from a distance. It's all just timing.
Problem is that mma doesn't exactly crossover to boxing. Not only is Silva too old boxing wasn't his sport to begin with. Not sure what people are exactly expecting out of him. Should be another great boxing match.
I find this to be a lazy criticism. Boxing is still a huge part of MMA if not the most utilised combat style in the sport. It's not like UFC fighters can't throw a punch or something. Sure, Ben Askren was terrible but he was widely known for his grappling and he used to just take it to the ground straight away. He was so predictable that Masvidal knew exactly what he was going to do and kneed him in the head right out the gates. At least Jake is taking it up a notch with every fight as he should, but let's see how far he can take this. I'm sure he's working up to something big if he keeps this momentum going.
Problem is that mma doesn't exactly crossover to boxing. Not only is Silva too old boxing wasn't his sport to begin with. Not sure what people are exactly expecting out of him. Should be another great boxing match.
Anderson has already had like 3/4 bouts, and beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, which I do recall he was a heavy underdog in the fight. Also beat Tito Ortiz, and both of these were like a year or so ago. So, arguably he has the same experience that Jake Paul has, but in additional also has MMA experience. So, this isn't a boxer vs a MMA guy, at least not completely. Silva made his bread, and butter in MMA, but he's had a decent boxing career, albeit only a short one.
Jake Paul technically is fighting someone who has fought in boxing before, whereas before they hadn't.
People this whole thing where people think a 47 year old Silva who boxed 3 times is a good fight to watch is insane. Mma and boxing are 2 wildly different sports even though sometimes they look the same. For a natural boxing fan watching this crap it's cringy when ypu watch these guys try to box "professionally". It's fun for a round like a car accident ypu can't look away but to think it's a solid match to watch is....
Have you even watched Jake's fights? If you didn't know who he was and caught the fight on TV you wouldn't question whether he was a boxer or not and this is something echoed by a lot of respected fighters and commentators like Joe Rogan etc. He got one of the best KOs of the year against Woodley and Woodley has won a fair few UFC fights with KOs and is no pushover. The only criticism I would have of this fight is Silva's age but he's still a beast and is beating people in boxing so it seems a fairly fair fight given Jake's experience level right now.