Jake Paul’s taste for the road not taken

By: Sean Crose

Give Jake Paul this – the man keeps active. After a major July novelty bout with Mike Tyson was postponed (if not outright scratched), the social media influencer turned professional boxer could have taken it easy. That sort of thing, however, simply isn’t Paul’s style. Instead of kicking back for the summer, Paul decided to challenge himself. Hence, the fighter known as “The Problem Child” will be facing bare knuckle attraction Mike Perry on Saturday night in Tampa, Florida. The scheduled eight rounder will be the main event of a DAZN pay per view card.

While Perry has only boxed professionally once – in a bout he lost back in 2015 – the 32 year old from Flint, Michigan has won five in a row since entering the world of bare knuckle boxing in 2022. Sure enough, name fighters such as Luke Rockhold and Eddie Alvarez have fallen victim to Perry within the distance. And, although bare knuckle boxing isn’t the same thing as modern professional boxing (ironic since bare knuckle boxing morphed into modern professional boxing back in the late 1800s), there are obvious similarities between the two sports – namely, the ability to punch to maximum effect and the ability to employ fluid footwork.

In short, Paul may lose to Perry this Saturday evening. But that sort of thing is what makes the 27 year old Ohioan interesting. Sure, Paul has punching power and sure, he’s certainly grown skill wise over the past few years, yet Paul’s ability to take on serious challenges has a lot to do with what has thus far been a very successful professional run. Even when he loses – as he did to Tommy Fury a few years back – Paul refuses to be broken. He may not have the talent that the best boxers have, but Paul deserves credit for taking the road not traveled.