Anthony Pettis To Jake Paul: Ben Askren is No Nate Robinson

Back in November, Youtube star Jake Paul (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a brutal second round knockout of NBA veteran Nate Robinson.

In the last few months, Paul has been calling for a fight with several MMA fighters - especially Conor McGregor – to a boxing match.

But veteran Ben Askren has accepted Paul’s challenge and he’s willing to step in the boxing ring.

The fight between Paul and Askren could potentially go down on a March date, on pay-per-view.

Paul’s fight with Robinson was the pay-per-view co-feature to the high profile exhibition between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.

Former UFC champion Anthony Pettis, a friend and training partner of Askren, believes Paul will be hit with a big shock when he faces a real fighter in the ring.

“Once a guy who can actually take a punch, see blood and not be afraid – that’s a real fighter. A guy that can take damage and keep coming forward. Ben can do that. Ben is one of those guys that can get hit and hit you back,” Pettis told The Sun.

“Look at Nate Robinson, it didn’t even look like he had a sparring session before that fight. Once he got hit you could see he wanted no part of it. That changes when you get in with a guy that accepts getting hit and hits you back. Once Jake Paul fights someone like that under the lights, when the pressure is on, that’s when we’ll see.

“I definitely think [Askren has] been underestimated. Ben’s strength is wrestling, his hands are only to get guys to the ground, to maintain that distance to get guys to the ground. We haven’t seen much of Ben’s hands so it makes sense for Jake Paul to call someone out like that instead of going for some of the big guns.

“But Ben’s an athlete, I’ve trained with him and I know how good he is. I’ve said I’d help Ben get ready for that fight. Ben’s here in Wisconsin and I’ve told him I’ve got sparring for him. I think he fought Damian Maia in his last fight and that’s a hard guy to showcase your skills against. Ben has great boxing, I even think Damian Maia has underrated boxing in mixed martial arts. His hands are very good.”