Jake Paul has become one of the most notorious figures in all of boxing, but it almost started in disaster as he struggled through his debut.
The social media sensation has gone on to knock out the likes of Tyron Woodley and Mike Perry, and shared the ring with Anderson Silva and Mike Tyson. But he kicked off his career in Manchester on the undercard of his brother Logan Paul’s fight with KSI in 2018.
The Paul brothers headed to the UK to face their coastal rivals Deji and JJ Olatunji, with the elder siblings fighting each other while the younger competed in the co-main event. And it was Jake who provided the excitement as he landed a stoppage win after coming from surprising adversity early.
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Jake Paul faced YouTuber Deji in boxing debut
It was August 25, 2018 when YouTube boxing made it’s biggest step yet as Logan and Jake Paul faced off with KSI and Deji in Manchester. The pair of brothers shared a lengthy build-up that included press conferences in the UK and USA leading to a massive pay-per-view event.
The Manchester Arena was the venue, with fans packing out the room and over 1.2million buying the event on pay-per-view. Both Americans entered as strong favorites for their bouts, but it was Jake who landed the victory, although it wasn’t easy.
Deji appeared to not be in prime shape for the bout, but flew out of the traps showing almost no nerves ahead of the event. And he managed to take advantage of an early-career injury that became apparent as he bloodied his rival’s nose in the first round, making for memes across the internet.
It became clear in the early parts of Paul’s career that he had an issue with his nose that needed to be fixed. He was also bloodied in quick-fire knockout wins over Nate Robinson and AnEsonGib, but has since had the issue fixed.
He managed to overcome that issue and ended up comfortably outboxing his rival, showing arguably the best skill of the four headliners that night. He battered his rival into the corner in the fifth round of their scheduled six and ended up forcing the towel to be thrown in.
Jake Paul went on to turn professional while Deji lost future bouts
After the fight, Deji and Jake Paul continued their boxing journeys, and will have both competed within this month by Thursday evening. However, they have gone completely opposite directions, with Paul becoming a massive name in the sport while Deji has stayed on the YouTube scene.
Jake Paul’s combat career goes without saying, but his British rival’s has been much more fascinating. The Watford native returned to action three years after the Paul fight to face model Vinny Hacker at Social Gloves in Miami, and was stopped in a fight that was believed to be a handy one for him.
He then fought at home against Alex Wassabi on the debut of Showstar, and again tasted defeat this time by split decision. But he looked much better in that one, and returned to the ring a few months later against Fousey in the debut of Misfits Boxing.
Deji managed to land a stunning stoppage on that night with his brother fighting in the main event, and ended up moving on to an exhibition bout with Floyd Mayweather. He has since competed twice, and is set to return on Thursday under the Misfits Boxing banner.
Jake Paul and Deji clashed at the same venue in reunion after fight
Things seemed to be positive between the pair when they met after Paul’s fight with Tommy Fury in 2023. But it wasn’t the same as they came head-to-head in the Manchester Arena a few months later.
Deji was in town to support his brother against Fury at October’s Prime Card, while Jake was there for his brother Logan’s showdown with Dillon Danis. The pair met during the kick-off show, and it wasn’t friendly as Deji insisted he would win in a rematch.
“I already beat your a** and you don’t know s*** about boxing,” Paul told Deji, who replied: “To date I was your hardest fight, I bloodied your face. I would absolutely destroy him if we fought again, I would beat him and I know that I would.”
Paul dismissed the concept of the pair ever fighting again, declaring that they would ‘absolutely not’ ever step in the ring together for a rematch. “This is why I didn’t want to come here tonight,” he declared. “Because all of these little people that I already beat and dusted up are making their name off me.”
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