After losing to former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on Dec. 19 and being left with a broken jaw in two places, Jake Paul is planning his next move. Instead of being deterred from boxing, “The Problem Child” called out former UFC heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou.
The callout raised some eyebrows, including those of multiple-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen.
“Jake Paul has never asked me for advice, but I’m going to give him my advice,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel.
“What should he do next? Jake Paul went on the IMPAULSIVE Podcast. That is his brother’s podcast. He goes on there with a double broken jaw. So, he’s doing the best he can to do these interviews, right? Which he should get credit for,” continued Sonnen.
“What should Jake do (next)? Well, what are his goals? What’s left to do? But it’s not the same for him. Don’t just go, ‘a world championship’ like anybody else. Make money, take care of your family like anybody else. Seek fame or fortune like anybody else. Legacy and be remember like anybody else. You can’t just say that because he didn’t do it for those reasons in the first place. He was chasing something different.”
If you ask Paul, he wants to win a world championship. If you ask Sonnen, he believes the influencer-turned-boxer wants respect.
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“To the best I could see, to the best that I understand, he was chasing respect. He had a competitive drive. One of his real interests was from a competitive standpoint,” said Sonnen.
“He was a guy that liked to compete, but he was no longer in high school where he could go out for the such and such team. He was no longer in college where he could go and join the such and such team. So in a very unique position as a young adult who wanted to compete. It was a very, very interesting spot he was in.”
When Paul entered boxing, he was already rich and famous. He bit off a little more than he could chew taking on Joshua, and Sonnen doesn’t want him to make the same mistake with Ngannou.
“I just want to go back to IMPAULSIVE. He’s sitting on the couch with a double broken jaw and basically, I have to use that word, calls out Francis Ngannou,” said Sonnen.
“As interesting as it is, it’s not likely to go Jake’s way. Francis is humungous, and Francis is likely to catch (him). Francis is a world champion. Francis is a beautiful, huge athletic man. So, what would be the point … Why?”
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