YouTube stars-turned-boxer Logan Paul and his younger brother Jake Paul have been the talk of the combat sports world for a while now, largely dating back to 2019.
That year, Logan Paul lost to fellow social media influencer KSI in a rematch in his first professional boxing match. While Logan suffered a defeat, the bout drew around two million buys on pay-per-view, ushering in a new era for boxing – the era of the “celebrity fighter.”
It didn’t take Jake Paul long to follow his brother into the world of professional boxing. ‘The Problem Child’ actually debuted as an amateur on the undercard of Logan’s first clash with KSI, then turned pro in 2020, knocking out fellow influencer AnEsonGib.
Both Paul brothers have continued to involve themselves heavily with combat sports in the years that have followed. While Jake has focused primarily on boxing, Logan has largely moved into the world of WWE, where he’s received some rave reviews for his performances.
However, it has now been confirmed that the older Paul brother will be fighting grappler Dillon Danis in a pro boxing match that will take place on the undercard of the upcoming KSI vs. Tommy Fury event in October.
So with Logan returning to the ring, it’s worth a look at probably the most high-profile fight he could involve himself with in the future: a clash with his younger brother.
Logan Paul vs. Jake Paul – could this fight ever happen?
Discussion of a fight between the Paul brothers has been ongoing for some time now, but the likelihood of the clash actually happening seems relatively low.
Fights between brothers in combat sports aren’t all that common. MMA’s legendary Shamrock brothers, Ken and Frank, feuded for years and even signed a prospective contract to finally throw down in 2008.
When it came to it, though, they simply couldn’t face one another, and eventually, buried the hatchet in 2015 to the point that Frank was willing to corner Ken for his 2016 fight with Royce Gracie.
The Shamrock brothers are not linked by blood like the Paul brothers – they’re adoptive siblings. Therefore, the idea of Logan Paul and Jake Paul ever facing off seems unlikely, but in the world of combat sports, stranger things have happened.
However, the brothers recently appeared together on Logan’s IMPAULSIVE podcast, and it’s fair to say that things became a little heated.
Logan claimed “Tommy Fury is on my radar”, before the brothers sniped at one another somewhat. In fact, Jake claimed his older brother “isn’t even a fighter”, before outlandishly stating that he’d knock the legendary Floyd Mayweather out if they were to fight.
Following this heated discussion, the idea of a Paul vs. Paul fight has come back to the forefront. So if the fight were to happen, who would win?
Logan Paul vs. Jake Paul – the experience lies with Jake
Physically, a fight between Logan Paul and his younger brother Jake Paul would be quite even. Both men have competed as cruiserweights in the boxing ring, making the 200lbs limit with relative ease, and while Logan stands an inch taller at 6’2”, neither man would really enjoy a major advantage in range.
Therefore, to consider who would win this prospective fight, it’s worth looking at the skills and experience of both men instead.
While both of the Paul brothers have dabbled in combat sports for some time, it’s probably fair to say that Jake Paul has more experience than his older brother.
As a professional, Logan is just 0-1, having suffered the afore-mentioned defeat to KSI in 2019. Since then, he’s only entered the boxing ring on one occasion, going the distance with the legendary Floyd Mayweather in a 2021 exhibition.
In all honesty, it’s hard to take much stock from that fight in terms of where Logan’s skills are. Not only did he enjoy a massive size advantage over ‘Money’, but it was also clear that Mayweather wasn’t necessarily looking to do anything but to put on an entertaining fight.
Arguably the most memorable moment in the fight, in fact, saw Mayweather seemingly stun Paul with a right hand. Many fans suggested ‘Money’ was forced to hold Paul to keep him standing after this happened.
Given that Logan has since been wrestling for WWE more than anything else, quite where his boxing skills are at the minute is somewhat of a mystery.
On the flip side of this, we know far more about Jake Paul’s skills because he’s been quite consistent with fighting, even if his choice of opponents has been somewhat questionable.
After his wins over influencer AnEsonGib and former basketball star Nate Robinson, ‘The Problem Child’ has primarily fought against MMA fighters in the ring.
Unfortunately, while he’s picked up wins over Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley (on two occasions), Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz, it’s fair to say that all of them should come with a caveat of sorts.
Askren was never known for his striking during his MMA career and was painfully out of shape for the fight, which lasted just under two minutes and saw Paul knock him out violently.
Paul failed to impress in his first win over Woodley, and while the second featured a memorable knockout, it’s also fair to say that ‘The Chosen One’ was past his prime by that point, and had washed out of the UFC with four straight losses.
The same criticism could be levied at both Silva – who was 47 years old at the time of his fight with Paul – and Diaz, too. More to the point, all of those foes were far smaller than ‘The Problem Child’, with none really competing in MMA in a weight class above 200lbs.
The only “real” boxer that Paul has fought so far was Tommy Fury. ‘TNT’ edged a split decision win over the YouTuber after largely picking him apart, despite having to recover from a late knockdown.
So does Jake Paul have real skills? It’s clear that he packs plenty of power in his punches, and to be fair, he doesn’t look like a flailing amateur inside the ring.
Sure, the majority of his fights have seen him show flaws, but realistically, his fundamentals appear to be improving all of the time, as you’d expect with a young prospective boxer.
Even Jake’s choice of opponents can largely be excused. Unlike MMA, prospects in boxing are encouraged to build themselves up slowly by fighting overmatched foes, and to that extent, Jake isn’t doing anything different to most boxers.
It’s true that he’s been fighting MMA fighters rather than “real” boxers, but realistically, his profile is simply too high for him to warrant bouts against journeymen. In that sense, if he’s serious about his career as a boxer, his high profile could be seen as both a blessing and a curse.
In terms of what they’ve proven in the ring, then, there’s no contest – Jake Paul is streets ahead of his big brother.
Could Logan Paul enjoy a psychological advantage over Jake Paul?
Despite Jake Paul having more proven skills and more experience in the ring, the x-factors in a prospective Paul vs. Paul fight may well favour Logan.
That’s because, as the older sibling by two years, he may be already used to physically and mentally dominating his brother from their childhood days.
There’s no real documentation of Logan bullying or beating up Jake during their childhood, but all siblings clash as they grow up, and usually the older brother tends to be more dominant.
Therefore, Jake could well have this in the back of his mind if a fight were to happen.
To look back at the example of the Shamrock brothers, for instance, despite being a more proven fighter in and outside of the UFC’s octagon, Frank Shamrock would often admit that Ken would dominate him in sparring sessions as they grew as fighters.
Despite this, it feels like Jake Paul is the kind of fighter – and person – who wouldn’t let something like that affect him too much. ‘The Problem Child’ is arguably confident to the point of arrogant at times, and in the world of boxing, that’s often a good thing.
Overall, then, if the Paul brothers were to meet in the ring, Jake Paul would be the clear-cut favourite. As always in the world of combat sports, though, anything could happen.
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