It is fair to say that since the beginning of his boxing journey, Jake Paul has improved massively and he is beginning to get recognition for that.
This past Saturday, Jake Paul returned to the boxing ring for the first time since his controversial win over Mike Tyson last November, taking on former WBC middleweight world champion, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
‘The Problem Child’ once again continued to divide the boxing fanbase when he sailed to a dominant unanimous decision victory over the Mexican fighter.
And following the fight, the 28-year-old moved one step closer to achieving his final goal in the sport as he now finds himself ranked inside the WBA world rankings.
Eddie Hearn credits Jake Paul for ‘improving considerably’
Throughout his short tenure as a pro, Paul has continued to receive criticism for cherry-picking opponents that are smaller than him, along with many other things.
And throughout that time, one of his biggest critics has been Matchroom Boxing promoter, Eddie Hearn. Paul and Hearn have worked together on several occasions, co-promoting some huge fights.
Despite that, Hearn has consistently claimed that Paul has ‘no respect for boxing’ because of the fighters that he picks to fight.
However, in a dramatic turn of events, reacting to Paul’s win over Chavez Jr this past Saturday, Hearn gave the 28-year-old some extremely rare praise.
“I think you’ve got to start, and it’s hard to say, just giving Jake a little bit of credit,” Hearn told The Stomping Ground.
“He’s done 10 rounds and look, Chavez is, I don’t want to be critical of Chavez because I like him, but he was finished 10 years ago but he was once a decent fighter and he did have a proper training camp and he did come into that fully prepared.
“I think Jake’s boxing IQ has improved considerably, I think he can whack, I think he’s got a decent chin and he’s putting the work in. So should he be top 15 in the world, don’t be ridiculous but has he improved, absolutely… I would say Jake is top 100 in the cruiserweight division,” Hearn continued.
Hearn slams the idea of Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua
Following his fight, Paul called out several world champions including Zurdo Ramirez, Badou Jack, and Anthony Joshua.
Despite facing off with Ramirez following the event, Hearn claimed Paul wouldn’t beat Ramirez if he had 1000 tries, and went on to slam the idea of Paul vs Joshua but admitted that he and his team will consider the idea of the fight.