Jake Paul has declared Tyson Fury’s crossover bout to face UFC legend Francis Ngannou is good for boxing.
Earlier this week, it was announced that ‘The Gypsy King’ will square off against Ngannou in a ten-round exhibition about in Saudi Arabia on October 28.
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The intriguing crossover fight was not well received by everyone, and Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, has even called for the WBC to strip their heavyweight champion.
However, Paul recently compared the fight to Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor and pointed out that ‘Money’ didn’t take nearly as much flack for fighting an MMA star.
“A massive fight like this with global audiences and the two baddest men on the planet going at it is only good for everyone and everything,” he told MMA Junkie.
“No one criticised Floyd when he basically came out of retirement just to fight Conor McGregor for hundreds of millions of dollars, but for some reason, they want to criticise Tyson Fury.”
The YouTuber-turned-boxer is particularly happy to see Ngannou making more money for one fight than he did in 14 appearances in Dana White’s MMA league.
“I’m happy for him, and I think he’s creating history by showing UFC fighters they can make so much more money by being in control of their own destiny. Which is also what Nate Diaz is doing,” Paul added.
“This should be Nate Diaz’s biggest payday, and that’s for certain going to be Francis’ biggest payday.
“Hopefully, more fighters follow suit, leave the UFC, come to the better league, which is PFL, and also be able to box.”
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Both Paul and Ngannou have inked deals with PFL and are expected to compete on their shows in 2024.
The former Disney actor has also stated he hopes other MMA stars will follow them to one of UFC’s biggest rivals.
“They’re MMA fighters, but they can also box,” he concluded.
“So, I think more fighters will follow in his footsteps, and that’s what we’re doing with the PFL, and growing it is giving fighters another place to go instead of it just being a monopoly that the UFC has truly created.
“Francis is the pioneer of that currently, and this fight is amazing. It’s exciting, and it’s fun.”
