If you had never seen or heard of Ben Askren prior to Friday’s weigh-in for his boxing match vs. Jake Paul, you’d have thought it was Paul who was the career combat sports athlete just comparing their physiques.
Saturday’s Triller PPV main event saw Paul come in at 190.5 lbs for what is essentially a cruiserweight fight — the boxing limit for this division is 200 lbs — whereas Askren tipped the scales at 191 lbs. We know of Askren as a welterweight dating back to his days in the UFC and Bellator, so just how does the 20 lbs weight gain look on Ben? Well take a look.
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Yeah…. not in the best shape of his career. Certainly it’s the heaviest he’s ever weighed in his combat sports career, and that includes his wrestling and grappling days.
For reference, here’s Askren at his weigh-in for his final MMA fight against Demian Maia back in October 2019.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Askren also competed at 185 lbs in ONE Championship, and for another comparison point here’s how he looked against Shinya Aoki.
Photo by Dux Carvajal/ONE Championship/Getty Images
Of course this isn’t to say Askren is destined to lose tomorrow night, but it’s very much worth noting his physical shape is quite different since he retired from MMA.
And besides, at least he’s not like Frank Mir, who is a whopping 276 lbs his bout with former cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.
The Paul vs. Askren card starts at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT on Fite.TV/Triller PPV from Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
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