Anderson Silva doesn’t believe his legacy will take a hit if he comes up short against Jake Paul.
Silva takes on the YouTuber-turned-boxer in a 187-pound boxing match set to take place October 29 in Phoenix, Arizona.
“The Spider” is arguably Paul’s toughest task yet and has opened as a betting favorite to inflict the latter’s first professional boxing defeat.
However, in combat sports, anything can happen.
Just ask former MMA champions Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren, who both suffered the indignity of getting knocked out by Paul in their respective boxing matches.
For many, Woodley and Askren’s legacies took a huge hit, especially considering Paul’s inexperience at the highest level in combat sports.
Surely, the same would apply to Silva if he were to suffer defeat against Paul? Not according to the former UFC middleweight king.
“Definitely not, definitely not,” Silva told reporters Monday (via MMA Junkie). “I came here to do my best. I’m training hard every day, and fighters fight.
“You have two fighters inside the ring. Two fighters have 50 percent to win. I have 50 percent and Jake has 50 percent. It doesn’t matter if people say, ‘Oh, it’s not a real fighter or not.’ But when you go inside the ring, you don’t go to stop, you go to kill, you go to die. That’s that’s the point.”
Anderson Silva: Expect A Different Version Of Me
While Silva is older than both Woodley and Askren, he still remains a huge threat and has actually looked good in his boxing endeavors so far.
He returned to boxing last year with an impressive decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. before quickly knocking out Tito Ortiz a couple of months later.
Silva also scored a knockdown in his exhibition boxing match with Bruno Machado earlier this year.
But don’t expect to see the same Silva when he takes on Paul.
“I don’t know [how the fight will go], but I promise I’ll go fight very, very hard,” Silva added. “You will see a different Anderson.”
How do you see the fight playing out?
