"Love him or hate him, but his PPV numbers are pretty darn big" - Javier Mendez acknowledges Jake Paul’s success in combat sports

Javier Mendez has credited Jake Paul for an ability to generate incredible hype around his fights.

Speaking to co-host Len on the Javier Mendez AKA Podcast, world-renowned MMA coach Javier Mendez chimed in on the debate regarding fighter pay in the UFC versus fighter pay in professional boxing. On that note, Mendez lauded Jake Paul and stated:

“When you’re talking about main stars, yeah, they [the UFC] probably should pay the main stars more money. But that’s between you and your manager; what you can do, what you can’t do, and create hype. And that’s what they’re looking for. Look at someone like Jake Paul. Love him or hate him, but his pay-per-view numbers are pretty darn big; pretty darn big. They’re a lot bigger than the vast majority of the guys out there, by far.”

“Sport-entertainment, bro, it’s sport-entertainment.” Mendez continued, “As much as you like him or you hate him, he’s creating a good little chunk of change for him. Now, this next fight, who knows what it’s going to cause. I don’t know if I’m all that interested in him fighting an actual boxer. Because, now you’re talking about a boxer that’s not really the top of the food chain, you know what I mean? Really isn’t. So, I don’t know. Personally, I think he should’ve kept continuing to fight crossover [MMA] ex-champions or stars. I mean, he [Jake Paul] is fighting a guy [Tommy Fury] that’s a boxer, not a great boxer, not his brother [Tyson Fury], by any means. He’s not a journeyman by any means either. But he’s still on his way up. He’s still learning the craft. He’s not at the elite level, or he hasn’t been at the elite level and is declining like a Tyron Woodley. He’s on the rise. But how many times do you see two guys on the rise get that kind of attention? Never. Not that kind of attention. So, I don’t know how big that’s gonna be. Hopefully, it does well.”

Watch Javier Mendez and Len speak about Jake Paul and much more in the video below:

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Jake Paul is on the cusp of earning multiple high-profile ‘money fights’ as a professional boxer

Since his professional boxing debut in January 2020, Jake Paul has turned himself into one of the biggest PPV draws in combat sports today. ‘The Problem Child’ has bested one opponent after another, with each fight purportedly being a bigger financial success than the previous one.

The 24-year-old Jake Paul is 4-0 as a professional boxer and is set to face 22-year-old Tommy Fury next. The younger half-brother of heavyweight boxing great Tyson Fury, Tommy boasts a professional boxing record of 7-0 and is expected to be the biggest test of Paul’s boxing career thus far.

Many believe a win over Tommy Fury could catapult Jake Paul into multiple ‘money fights’ – even bigger than the matchup against Tommy. Apart from his bitter rivals like Bellator MMA fighter Dillon Danis and social media influencer KSI, another major star whom Jake Paul could face is UFC legend Nate Diaz.

Nevertheless, Jake Paul first has to stave off longtime rival Tommy Fury next. The Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury professional boxing bout will take place at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, on December 18th.