After seeing Khalil Rountree go four rounds with Alex Pereira, Jake Paul is feeling confident about his ability to beat ‘Poatan’ in a boxing bout.
Pereira secured his third successful light heavyweight title defense of 2024, besting ‘The War Horse’ in their UFC 307 headliner. Though the ‘Brazilian Boogeyman’ finished Rountree in the fourth round with a brutal barrage of strikes in the closing minute, his victory didn’t come without some adversity. Rountree managed to tag Pereira multiple times throughout the bout, including a series of nasty body shots and a perfectly timed hook that nearly dropped the defending champ in the second stanza.
Still, Pereira showed the world why he is one of the most dangerous fighters in the world. However, not everyone was impressed. During a recent interview, ‘The Problem Child’ suggested that Pereira’s boxing leaves a lot to be desired.
“1000% I would beat [Pereira],” Paul told Adin Ross on Kick. “Rountree actually kind of exposed that Pereira doesn’t have high-volume output, he doesn’t like body shots, and in MMA, Pereira would rip my head off but boxing is a completely different sport and the pace and style of it is completely different.”
“He has holes right, and Rountree rocked him, hurt him a couple of times to the body but didn’t follow up on it so if anything, this fight showed me yes Alex Pereira is great but I know I would beat him in a boxing match. And I would still love to make that happen and the pressure is on him you know, if he can find his way out of the UFC contract like Nate Diaz did and then eventually him and I can talk.”
Jake Paul says he would "1000%" beat Alex Pereira in a boxing match and says his fight with Khalil Rountree exposed holes in his game 😬
🎥 KICK / @adinross #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/dZt5JHu9yn
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) October 10, 2024
Considering Pereira is one of the most popular and beloved fighters in all of mixed martial arts right now, we don’t he’s feeling any kind of “pressure” to get out of his UFC contract for a fight with a YouTuber.
Jake Paul Goes To-to-Toe with ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet’ Next Month
After amassing a successful 10-1 record, Jake Paul will return to the squared circle on Friday, November 15 for a highly anticipated clash with former unified heavyweight world champion, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson. The bout will emanate from the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas—home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
It will be Paul’s 12th career fight after going 10-1 with most of his wins coming against non-boxers and past their prime MMA stars. Meanwhile, Tyson will be competing in his first professional boxing bout since a June 2005 loss to Kevin McBride.
Paul goes into the bout 31 years younger than Tyson—a factoid that has been the cause of much concern among boxing pundits.
Watch the full interview below:
