‘If he touches Silva he’s going down’: Ring legend Oscar De La Hoya backs YouTube star and underdog Jake Paul to knock out veteran MMA fighter Anderson Silva in their upcoming boxing bout
- Former boxer Oscar De La Hoya is backing Jake Paul in his upcoming bout
- Paul, 25, will be taking on MMA legend Anderson Silva, 47, in a boxing fight
- De La Hoya believes that Paul will beat Silva with the bout decided by a knockout
- Paul vs Silva is set to take place on October 29 at the Gila River Arena, Arizona
Jake Paul is set to fight Anderson Silva on October 29 and boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya believes that there is only one winner.
Speaking to Inside Fighting, De La Hoya said that he will be backing Paul to win the bout – which he thinks will be decided by a knockout.
‘I’m gonna go with Jake Paul,’ said the former boxer-turned-promoter. ‘Yeah I’m gonna go with Jake Paul just because he seems like he’s getting into the rhythm of things.’
Oscar De La Hoya believes that Jake Paul (L) will knock out the veteran Anderson Silva (R)
Although De La Hoya admits that Paul is lacking in terms of experience, the former Olympic gold medalist believes that the YouTube star has the power to win.
‘He loves boxing, is a hard worker, and has a lot of power. If he connects with Silva he’s going to knock him out,’ De La Hoya continued. ‘If he touches Silva he’s going down.’
Paul has had a total of five professional fights and, to back up De La Hoya’s statement, the 25-year-old has won four of these via knockouts.
It seems that De La Hoya is far more convinced by Paul’s limited boxing career than of his opponents so far.
Paul has won four of his five professional fights via knockout and is backed to do so again
Speaking on Silva’s resumé, De La Hoya said: ‘Look, where everybody’s going based on what Silva did to Julio César Chávez Jr. and Tito Ortiz. Come on. I mean, Chávez Jr. Wasn’t even 20% of himself. Okay? Conditioning-wise, physically just wasn’t him.’
Silva has one loss to his name in boxing from his first four fights.
However, highlighting the age-gap between the fighters, the Spider lost that fight in 1998 – when Paul was just a one-year-old.
With both fighters at completely different stages of their combat career, the bout will be a battle of youth versus experience with De La Hoya backing youth.
If De La Hoya is correct with his prediction, then the underdog Paul will be continuing his unbeaten record and could line up some big fights as a result.
De La Hoya thinks that if Paul ‘connects with Silva he’s going to knock him out’ on October 29