The identity of the first boxer to speak out in de...

The identity of the first boxer to speak out in defense of Jake Paul against 57-year-old Mike Tyson: “He is not a terrible boxer”

Dricus du Plessis can’t hate on what Jake Paul has done in combat sports.

The past few years have seen Paul become one of the most talked-about boxers in the world, with the popular social media influencer bringing his legion of fans to the sport while also drawing the ire of boxing traditionalists and fighters.

You can count the UFC middleweight champion among those supporting his efforts, even if he questions Paul’s overall impact on promoting professional fighting.

“Everybody goes, ‘Jake Paul has done great things for boxing,’” Du Plessis said on the Shadow Banned podcast. “No, he hasn’t. His fans only watch him box, they don’t know boxing for s***, they know Jake Paul. But I do not hate him at all. … Successful dude. I respect the grind and what he’s done. There was one problem that I had and that is the martial artist in me speaking. The fact that he’s getting paid crazy money, [more than] people that have been working their whole lives — not me, I get paid — people, boxers that have been working, world champions, but that’s the entertainment industry. Fight a boxer. The first real boxer he fought, he lost.”

“But one thing I can say, I don’t disrespect him in the sense of what he’s been able to do,” Du Plessis added. “My man’s making money … He is fighting, he’s getting better every fight. He is getting better. He’s not a s*** boxer, make no mistake, but take the route that you need to be taking. … To hate him for no reason, it’s uncool. To hate the fact that he’s getting paid more than all the other fighters, call it jealousy if you will, and there’s a part of me that probably is — I just know if we had to box each other, it wouldn’t be a fight.”

The response was prompted by a fan question asking if du Plessis would like to box Paul someday. That crossover matchup isn’t on du Plessis’ radar at the moment, as he’s more concerned about talking up a future fight with longtime rival Israel Adesanya, but should it ever happen, he doesn’t like Paul’s chances of making it a competitive bout.

“It wouldn’t be a fight, I promise you that,” Du Plessis said. “Two rounds. [In MMA,] two minutes. Oh no, one low kick. If we do takedowns in it, it’s not a fight. I would tap him out within a minute.”

Paul already has his next boxing appearance lined up, a heavily promoted match on July 20 against legendary heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. That bout is set to air live on Netflix.

In his past two outings, Paul made short work of boxers Ryan Bourland and Andre August to add to a list of conquests that also includes MMA stars Nate Diaz, Anderson Silva, Tyron Woodley, and Ben Askren.

Given Paul’s history of defeating opponents with far more impressive fighting credentials than him, du Plessis joked that there’s one more important reason that they won’t be trading punches anytime soon.

“He wouldn’t ask me to fight him now,” Du Plessis said. “No, he wouldn’t, because I wouldn’t take the money to take a dive.”