Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul’s legendary coach Larry Wade reckons Jake Paul has the power to translate his cruiserweight knockout even up a weight division.
The YouTube star has gone out there and been able to stop seven of his ten professional opponents. This has included being able to stop the likes of Tyron Woodley, Mike Perry and Ben Askren. This was on his route to boxing stardom. However, the cruiserweight is moving up to the heavyweight division on Friday night. This will be for the first time after piling on the pounds.
On Friday evening he will face off against the iconic Mike Tyson in his heavyweight debut. Despite what is expected to be an almost 40lb transformation from his career lowest, Larry Wade reckons Jake Paul has what it takes to land a massive knockout to upset the fans in Texas.
Mike Tyson Warned Jake Paul Has Massive Power
Mike Tyson is currently 58 years old which has left fans with questions surrounding his punch resistance. During his prime, Mike Tyson even struggled when brought into the deeper waters of his fights, and there are fears that if Jake Paul lands a big shot on him early, he may go down to the canvas. Jake Paul coach Larry Wade, who has brought through the likes of Shawn Porter to world title glory, believes that Jake Paul’s impressive right hand will translate across the weight divisions. Speaking about this Wade said;
“Jake has been busting up, knocking down heavyweights since the very beginning of camp,” Wade told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive chat.”
“So I don’t think this is going to be much different. He’s been doing a really good job of handling himself and sustaining himself.”
“He’s picking the best punch selection for himself and I feel like he’s going to do that too… With Jake being 27 and having the type of body he has [the weight gain] will work for us – we have this conversation five years from now when he’s 33 maybe not.”
“But right now he’s doing great with it. Anybody and everybody has to be concerned with Mike’s power, Mike is still Mike Tyson, you can never take that away from him. We’re concerned but also Mike has got to be concerned with what Jake brings to the table.”
“So many people talk about what Mike can do, but why is nobody talking about what Jake has already shown you he can do? His last three fights were knockouts, and in devastating fashion. That man can hit, and Mike better worry about that.”
“Jake is going to win, and this is the heavyweight division. These things tend to end in a knockout.”
Paul Has Been Putting Down Top 15 Sparring Partners
During the build-up to this fight, one of the most viral moments has been Jake Paul dropping a sparring partner in a video he released from his camp. The team was unknown for weeks, with many theorising that it was not a legitimate opponent.
However, is has since emerged that his opponent was, in fact, DeAndre Savage. DeAndre is a top 15-ranked heavyweight with the WBA who has landed six pro wins by knockout and is still undefeated. Larry Wade talked about this when he said;
“If you were Mike or anyone else wouldn’t you say it was fake?” Wade quizzed, before clarifying the reality of the situation.”
“It wasn’t fake, he got hit with an overhand right and it was a good shot and he went down. Savage is ranked number 15 in the world, he is not a crappy sparring partner. Can we say that any of these other guys had a top 15 guy in their camp sparring them? Hell no.”
Larry Wade Believes Jake Paul Has World Class Potential
Larry Wade was a championship-level athlete in his own right during his days as a track and field standout. This was before he retired and moved into coaching. Since he has brought NFL players and even NBA All-Stars to their physical peaks, but is best known for his work in the boxing industry.
Larry Wade believes that Jake Paul may actually have world championship ability in the boxing ring. Speaking about this he said;
“He’s right up there,”
“He’s definitely a world class, world championship boxer and his athleticism is up there with the best of the best.”
“The Shawn Porters and those guys, he has that ability athletically. They contacted me and asked me to come in, I did an interview and the crazy part about that is that I’ve never had to do an interview before in my life.”
“Generally people just take my resume as what it is and ask me to be a part of it. They did the interview, Jake wanted me and I wanted to be a part of the program and now I’m here.”
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
