Paul Proves Just Too Good
On a day when the boxing world was rocked by the news that Dillian Whyte had returned ‘adverse analytical findings’ on a random drugs test with VADA, it was up to the heavily criticised Jake Paul versus Nate Diaz fight to shine a spotlight on the sport for all the right reasons.
To be fair to both fighters, it was a bout which excited and intrigued in equal measure.
A former Disney star versus one of the most popular and outspoken combat sports athletes of all time, this wasn’t really a fight you’d have imagined happening back in 2016 when Paul was starring on Bizaardvark and Diaz was choking out Conor McGregor but hey, welcome to 2023 ladies and gents, and this crazy parallel universe we now live in.
To the fight, and it was a fast start from Paul. He clipped Diaz with a short right hand and then proceeded to back his rival up with the ref at one point looking like he was about to step in.
Nate survived the round though and a change in tactics, which saw him now plodding forward with a high guard, proved that it wasn’t going to be an easy and early night for Paul.
Paul showed off his improving boxing capabilities in the third as he started to pick Diaz off, but the Stockton native found a way back into the fight in the fourth as Paul visibly started to tire and Diaz began to land.
However, in the fifth came the breakthrough. With Diaz plodding forward, Paul timed a beautiful left hook which sent his opponent stumbling to the canvas.
Nate was hurt and Jake smelt blood, but as he has done so often inside of the octagon, Diaz showed he has cojones the size of emu’s eggs and got his legs back, eventually finishing the round the stronger.
Round six and seven were fairly similar, with Paul once again picking off Diaz pretty much at will with the former MMA star marching him down with occasional success.
It was in round eight, though, where the fight took another slight turn. The notorious engine of Nate Diaz showed no signs of running out of oil and after a dominant round, he buzzed Paul with seconds to go.
The former Disney star did, however, show that despite facing criticism from a vast majority of the boxing world, and rightly so in some cases, especially when you call out Canelo, he does deserve a decent amount of respect as he used his ever-growing boxing IQ to get behind the jab, use his legs to circle Diaz and ultimately make sure he wasn’t going to be denied in the final couple of rounds.
The scorecards read 97-92 and 98-91 x2, all in favour of Paul, which were more than fair to both fighters, six words we can rarely say these days when it comes to all three cards.
What next for these two? Well, Paul was quick to reiterate that there is a $10m offer to Diaz to fight him in MMA but even by Paul’s ambitious standards, that will more than likely be a step too far.
If Diaz doesn’t take that fight, then expect to see Paul fight the winner of KSI versus Tommy Fury in, as much as boxing fans hate to admit it, a fight that will undoubtedly be one of the biggest ‘boxing’ bouts of 2024.
It’s easy to criticise Paul but this is a young man who’s starting to earn his stripes inside and outside of the ring. Giving more exposure to women’s boxing, giving more exposure to younger fighters and doing work in the community to make the sport better at grassroots level, all whilst ‘living the life’ of a professional and taking this sport seriously, treating it as a career.
He’s never going to be a world champion and he’d probably do well to win a state title in the US but one thing is for sure, the kid is bringing eyes to the sport and on a day when the integrity of boxing was once again questioned, he was at the forefront of what turned out to be a spectacle for all combat sports fans, not just those of a boxing persuasion.
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