Former world champion Sergio Mora says that Jake Paul ‘stinks’ as a boxer and will not get his respect until he faces a credible opponent.
Mora, at one time the WBC light middleweight champion, was speaking on JABS as part of the DAZN Boxing Show.
Paul is set to fight Anderson Silva, the 47-year-old former UFC champion with a 3-1 boxing record, at the end of October.
However, that is not enough for Mora, who is waiting for Paul to take on a younger fighter who made his name in the boxing ring.
“You mention Jake Paul, as a boxer, [he] makes me cringe,” Mora began.
“But if you want to talk about celebrity boxers, he stinks, he’s not a boxer, he is not a professional fighter. Until he faces a real professional fighter - I don’t care if he’s 2-2, I don’t care if he’s 0-2 - as long as he's a professional fighter, I’m going to give him credit, for being a promoter, selling a fight, having a lot of fans, bringing a lot of new eyes to the sport.
"Fighting a licensed professional fighter - until then, don’t give me a 47-year-old Anderson SIlva who’s been out of the ring. He’s beaten three boxers, yes, but Jake Paul hasn’t beaten a boxer so why am I going to respect him? I’m not going to respect him until he fights a real boxer.”
Paul has twice set up a fight with professional fighter Tommy Fury in the last year only to see the Briton fail to make the events, and Hassim Rahman Jr. dropped out when he failed to make weight.