- Nate Diaz pointed out that Jake Paul has no idea about his boxing skills and experience
- The ex-UFC star said he could see that “The Problem Child’s” dedication and hard work
Nate Diaz is just days away from taking on Jake Paul in a boxing match. As expected, the former UFC star is not worried about a thing. In fact, Diaz pointed out that it’s “The Problem Child” who should be concerned as he’s not dealing with just another old MMA legend.
An underrated high-level Boxer
Speaking to Andre Ward in an interview with DAZN, Diaz flat-out said that in order to win, he just needs to get inside the ring and do his thing as he is clearly “better” than Paul. Diaz also pointed out that Paul may be thinking he has an advantage in boxing but what he and other MMA fighters fail to realize is that he has had a proven track record in the “highest level” of boxing.
“I just feel like I go in there and be better than him. I think I am better than him. I think he’s good and he’s tough and just like I said I gotta go out there and get the job done,” Diaz speculated.
“The thing about him is he knows that MMA fighters can’t box and that there ain’t over their heads trying to box because he went in there and worked a bunch over in training and now in fights. Also the only thing about that is, I know MMA fighters don’t know this, but the only thing about that is that I’ve been on the same secret and I’ve been known that since I was 15. So I’m not your average wrestler, MMA fighter. I didn’t wrestle,” he continued.
“When the guys he fought were in the wrestling room at five and six and seven and 10, 15 years old, I was boxing the whole neighborhood and boxing every pro I can find and boxing up the highest level I can find my whole career,” he added.
Nate respects Jake’s Grind
It’s quite evident that there is some bad blood between the two but during their face-off at Ariel Helwani’s show, Paul gave Diaz his flowers for being one of the greatest fighters of all time. However, the UFC veteran walked off for some reason.
Oh my.
Today’s face-to-face with Jake and Nate ended … prematurely. 😅
Full video out tomorrow via @DAZNBoxing. pic.twitter.com/QHb6rztQ1C
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 2, 2023
Nevertheless, Diaz said he respects what “The Problem Child” has been doing in his career as he sees the burning passion in him.
“I respect that he’s trying to get attention and doing anything for content that’s what those YouTubers do and stuff right, but you gotta respect that he’s gonna get in the ring and fight somebody and that’s more than you can say for a lot of those guys and then he’d find high level guys, high level fighters and he’s working, he’s training and I could tell just like when I was a kid trying to get in the game, you could tell he’s passionate about what he’s doing and yeah I respect [that] for sure,” Diaz said of Paul.
Diaz is coming in as a pro boxing debutant but with a respectable 21-13 MMA record. On the other hand, Paul will be hoping to get back in the win column, having suffered his first pro boxing defeat at the hands of Tommy Fury.
Paul and Diaz will go toe-to-toe this weekend (Aug. 5) at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.
