Controversial YouTuber, actor, and professional boxer Jake Paul has announced that he intends to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
During a recent episode of his podcast, BS w/ Jake Paul, Paul revealed that he intends to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics as a boxer.
“I’m going to enter the 2028 Olympics for Boxing in Los Angeles,” Paul said. “I’m sick and tired of waiting around for another gold for Team USA.”
Despite his cohosts’ and guests’ surprise, Paul doubled down on the promise.
“Like, actually, like, I’m gonna do it. Why not?” Paul asked. “2028 Olympics. You heard it here first. Gold medal: you’re mine, brother. Being a world champion is first and foremost. Winning a gold medal is second.”
While this seems like an audacious claim from Paul, he’s not wrong about the US not bringing home gold in boxing. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the only athlete to bring home a medal in boxing is bronze medalist Omari Jones, a decision Paul disagrees with.
The last time any American won gold in boxing at the Olympics was Clarissa Shields. Shields won gold in 2012 and 2016, making her the first American boxer to win back-to-back gold medals.
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images
But the question remains: Is Jake Paul the person to finally bring boxing gold back to the United States? Most likely, no.
Paul holds a 10-1 record in professional boxing, seven by knockout and three by decision. He won his most recent match against mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer Mike Perry by technical knockout in the sixth round on July 20, 2024.
His only loss came against Tommy Fury, who won by split decision. Paul’s next professional match will be against former Heavyweight champion and boxing legend Mike Tyson on November 15, 2024.
While a 10-1 record could be considered impressive, it’s worth noting that only five of those matches were against fighters with more than five fights under their belts. Nate Robinson, Nate Diaz, Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, and Perry combine for only eight matches total.
Usually weighing around 200 pounds, Paul would qualify for the Heavyweight weight class at the Olympics.
This would put him against powerful fighters like Loren Alfonso from Azerbaijan, who has fought 66 fights with a 49-17 record, and Lazizbek Mullojonov from Uzbekistan, who won gold at the 2022 Asian Games and bronze at the 2023 World Championships. They earned silver and gold respectively at this year’s Olympics.
Paul would have to fight boxers of this caliber simply to qualify for the Olympics. Despite the desire to enter, there’s no guarantee that he’ll even make it on Team USA.
That being said, there’s no doubt that Paul would bring eyes to the product. Not only does he have 2.44 million subscribers on YouTube, but his seven pay-per-view bouts earned a combined total of 2.75 million buys.
Whether these viewers would be there to see him succeed or fail remains to be seen.
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