Jake Paul vs Woodley: Jake predicts second round stoppage, Tyron taking Paul seriously as an opponent

Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley are officially set to fight at some point this summer, and met up for a face-off and some words with one other and the media.

Showtime have not announced an official date yet, and though Aug. 28 has been floated, Showtime also have a David Benavidez card scheduled for that night already, which to be fair I forgot existed until I was updating the schedule.

One of the more noteworthy moments during their staredown was Paul (3-0, 3 KO) offering to double the purse of Woodley (19-7 in MMA) if he’s so confident he’ll win, but Woodley would have to put his entire purse on the line for donation to a charity of Jake’s choosing.

Woodley, 39, didn’t accept, perhaps because it would be really stupid to do so and risk leaving with $0 if you get a weird cut or something. The 24-year-old Paul, master troll and shit-stirrer, sees this as weakness.

“I told him I’ll pay you double your purse if you beat me. But if you lose, you have to pay your purse to my charity,” Paul said. “He lacks confidence. Why wouldn’t you take that bet as a fighter if you knew you were going to win? To make double the money? This is the biggest pay day of your life and you can make double? Put your money where your mouth is.”

Paul does see Woodley as a step up, and feels that if/when he wins this fight, people will have to start giving him more respect.

“He’s a good striker. He’s known for knocking people out. But I think when I beat Tyron, people have to put respect on my name,” he said. “But that’s not what I’m here for, to be honest. I already know how good I am. I know that this is going to be another easy fight. That’s why Showtime is in business with me. You’re looking at the future of boxing.”

And while the two will certainly talk trash, Woodley isn’t totally ignoring Paul’s ability, either, and says he’s not looking at him as a YouTuber or “Disney kid,” but as a legitimate opponent.

“I’ve always wanted to box my whole life but never did it. This is my opportunity. This is a kid that’s a power puncher,” the UFC veteran said of Paul. “He’s got a lot of strength behind him. This is going to be a big platform to showcase what I can do in a boxing ring. And he’s a fighter. He can fight. At the end of the day, you can watch him and the timing, the rhythm and the footwork is there.

“He hasn’t fought very long. But the little action that I have seen was clean. Good defense. Nate was rushing him, he protected himself and he came out of his shell and cracked him. He’s trying to downplay his ability. He’s a fighter. Don’t let him play you by saying, ‘I’m just a YouTuber.’ Last week, he was a fighter.

“When he was saying nobody wanted to fight him, he was a fighter. You’re not a YouTuber anymore. You’re not on Disney. It’s been a long time since he was on Disney. That’s like me saying I’m just a collegiate wrestler and I don’t punch people.”

Paul does, however you shake it all out, have more pro boxing experience, and he believes that gives him the edge on Woodley.

“He’s not as good as me and he’s playing catch-up. We see holes in his whole entire game and he has try to learn how to box,” he said. “He’s stiff. Muscles don’t fight and he’s going to be out of his element. This is boxing. This isn’t MMA. You can’t learn how to box in this amount of time. Now we’re going to show him the reins.”

Paul also says we haven’t even seen him show what he can really do just yet, as nobody has lasted long enough — and he predicts Woodley won’t, either.

“I haven’t even shown my fighting abilities at all. I haven’t even made it past two rounds in my professional career,” he said. “I haven’t been hit in the face. Nobody can even see if I have a chin or my inside fighting game. I haven’t even warmed up yet. And by the way, I’m the type of fighter that gets better the longer the fight goes on. I get better in sparring so I haven’t even been able to warm up, and I’m excited to show my ability if he can make it out of the first round.

“I’ve predicted every single one of my fights. I said Ben Askren, first round. I said Nate Robinson, first round. He got to the second. I said in my first pro fight, first round. I don’t think Tyron will make it out of two rounds. You might not even get to see my boxing abilities in this fight to be honest.”