Jake Paul vs Conor McGregor ‘more competitive’ than UFC star’s fight with Floyd Mayweather, says Eddie Hearn

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Eddie Hearn has claimed that a fight between YouTuber Jake Paul and Conor McGregor would be “more competitive” than the former UFC champion’s match-up against Floyd Mayweather.

MMA star McGregor was stopped by the undefeated Mayweather in the pair’s boxing bout in August 2017, and in the time since that contest Paul has boxed three times.

The vlogger has won via KO/TKO on each occasion, most recently brutally knocking out former NBA player Nate Robinson at the weekend on the undercard of Mike Tyson’s exhibition draw with Roy Jones Jr.

And after winning the fight, Paul called out McGregor, saying: “No other fighter with this big of a platform is calling out McGregor.

READ MORE: Why is McGregor fighting Poirier?

“My dogs have more followers than the guy [Dustin Poirier] he’s fighting in January.

“I’m gonna win, too! That’s what I want people to understand! I’m gonna dedicate my life to winning that fight, because I’m not going in there just to say I did it – I’m going in there to f*** Conor McGregor up.”

And while many have ridiculed the 23-year-old for suggesting he would even stand a chance against the UFC’s first simultaneous dual-weight champion in either a boxing or MMA contest, British boxing promoter Hearn suggested a meeting between Paul and McGregor would in fact be worth watching.

“I think it’s reasonably competitive, especially with the weight difference,” Hearn told Sirius XM Boxing.

“Jake Paul vs Conor McGregor is a lot more competitive than Conor vs Floyd Mayweather.”

McGregor has not boxed since his 10th-round defeat by Mayweather, instead returning to the UFC’s Octagon in October 2018 to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the promotion’s lightweight title.

McGregor was submitted in the fourth round in his attempt to regain the belt that he won in 2016, but bounced back with a 40-second TKO victory over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at welterweight in January of this year.

The 32-year-old is set to take on Dustin Poirier in January in the main event of UFC 257. McGregor knocked out the American in the first round of the pair’s featherweight contest in 2014, but the rematch will take place at lightweight.