CLEVELAND – Jake Paul doesn’t see Conor McGregor as a step up in competition when sizing up his potential future opponents.
The YouTube star believes he faced a tougher challenge than the Irishman in his win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at Sunday’s Showtime boxing pay-per-view event in Cleveland. Paul defeated Woodley in a split-decision, which was contested at cruiserweight over eight, three-minute rounds.
The Paul vs. Woodley boxing event took place at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The card streamed live on pay-per-view at 7 p.m. ET on Showtime Sports.
And in response to McGregor’s reaction tweet to Paul’s win, the 24-year-old said Woodley is a tougher fight than McGregor.
“We’re on the path to a lot bigger fights, I’m salivating too because I’m just getting warmed up,” Paul told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “Conor McGregor has a lot more to focus on besides me right now.
“I’m five wins in a row, he’s 1-3 in the past four years. So the guy needs to get off his vodka or whatever his brand is, sober up and start to get back in the gym and then we can f*cking fight.
“To be honest, no way he hits harder than Woodley. He doesn’t weigh as much as Woodley. He’s shorter than Woodley. I’ve said it before the fight, I think Woodley is a harder fight than him, especially the way he’s going. Conor is going down, I’m going up. Woodley came in game, we’ll see.”
Paul entered the Woodley bout coming off a first-round knockout win over Woodley’s teammate and former ONE Championship and Bellator champion Ben Askren back in April. The Youtube star remains undefeated in his professional boxing career. He now has a record of 4-0. Woodley is the second UFC fighter Paul defeats in boxing.
