Don Robbie

By Oli Dickson Jefford Jake Paul has divided boxing fans like no other figure in recent times. The 24-year-old attracted controversy when rising to fame as a YouTube personality and has continued to do so since stepping into the ring. Paul has won all five of his fights to date with four wins by knockout, and recently he has been bigging up his chances of forging a successful boxing career. However, many have disputed this and have accused the American of simply being a ‘celebrity boxer’ and not anywhere near the level of a professional fighter. So, has Paul crossed over into becoming a serious fighter, or is he still effectively a social media star with over-ambitious aims of a successful career? Questionable fights  The biggest barrier Paul faces in backing up his claims is the relatively weak field faced in his five fights. Paul started his professional fighting career almost two years against another YouTuber, AnEsonGib, before his second fight was against former basketballer N...

Dream boxing fights that could take place in 2022 There has been widespread boxing drama across the whole of 2021 but which eye-catching match-ups can fight fans start dreaming about next year? We have had a year in which YouTube boxing exploded, Jake Paul came to the fore and his brother Logan incredibly stepped into the ring with all-time great Floyd Mayweather. Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury were both in action too, s o which standout bouts can supporters eagerly await from January onwards? Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua We thought this colossal battle of the Brits was nailed on this year. It looked like everything was virtually signed, sealed and delivered in the summer, however, Deontay Wilder’s legal right to a trilogy fight with Tyson Fury scuppered things. The Gypsy King duly took care of the Bronze Bomber in sensational style, knocking out his American foe in the 11th round. Meanwhile, Anthony Joshua was thoroughly outboxed by Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in the fight he took in the i...

Jake Paul v Tyron Woodley Review By Jonny Bray In the sixth round of their clash, YouTuber Jake Paul knocked out Tyron Woodley to continue his remarkable run in celebrity boxing. The 24-year-old continued to prove his doubters wrong by knocking Woodley’s block off in stunning style before calling out a slew of MMA stars. Paul had initially planned to face English influencer, Love Island star and full-time boxer Tommy Fury. The half-brother of two-time heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson Fury, had to pull out due to injury and illness in the run-up to his fight with Paul. While that was a massive disappointment for fans, who had witnessed a fascinating build-up to the fight, Woodley showed a hell of a lot of bottle to fight Paul with just two weeks’ notice. The fight The first five rounds of the fight were actually quite dull. It felt like a celebrity boxing match and it felt like Woodley was fighting with two weeks’ notice. I don’t think many people were watching the bout in the h...

Has Tommy Fury missed his chance to fight Jake Paul?  By Jack Lacey-Hatton It was supposed to be one of the biggest fights of the year. A very public, modern, online feud finally coming to a head in the ring. Tommy Fury, half-brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson, was set to face YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Tampa, Florida, this Saturday night.            But on December 6 came the news that no-one, certainly not the broadcasters, wanted. Fury pulled out of the match as he was struggling for fitness. Later it was revealed a broken rib and a chest infection meant anything other than a late withdrawal was impossible. If missing out on the biggest fight of his career wasn’t already a huge blow to the Manchester-born boxer, noises from the Paul camp indicate things may be about to get even worse for him. Any hope of the bout being rescheduled appear to be in tatters, so has Tommy Fury missed his only chance to fight Jake Paul?   Yes Paul’s...

Should Nate Diaz fight Jake Paul?  By Tom Masters   Jake Paul’s fight with Tommy Fury appears to have put the YouTuber firmly in the boxing world, despite many not wanting him to make that leap in the first place.    The 24-year-old has won his first four professional fights, three by way of knockout, but there have been question marks over each of his opponents, with Fury set to be the first fight against a professional boxer.    He has previously fought fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib, professional basketball player Nate Robinson and UFC fighters Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, which has caused many to accuse Paul of ducking ‘proper’ boxers.    That is set to change though, with Paul fighting Fury in Tampa on December 18.    However, what happens after that fight with the 22-year-old younger brother of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is up in the air.    One person who appears to be keen to fight Paul is 36-year-old Nate Diaz, ...

Have YouTubers overtaken professional boxers? The influx of YouTubers and huge internet personalities turning their hand to boxing has caused quite a stir across both the sporting and social media landscapes.  You either love it or you hate it with millions of new eyes on the sport, but many have suggested that the rapid rise to ‘professionalism’ of some fighters is potentially degrading to the sport.  Whether you are more of a Logan Paul man or a Floyd Mayweather follower, there is undoubtedly a debate to be had.  Yes  Quite simply, the numbers do not lie.  If we take it back to the initial stages of YouTube boxing, Logan Paul’s first contest against British star KSI was billed as the “biggest internet event in history”.  And the momentum has hardly halted, Paul somehow ended up in a ring alongside undefeated legend Money Mayweather himself.  But in the technological age we live in, YouTubers, TikTokers and the like are the people capturing the imagin...

Have the Paul brothers changed boxing forever? They may not be your cup of tea but American social media superstars the Paul brothers, Logan and Jake, have firmly rocked boxing to its core. YouTube boxing has exploded in the last few years bringing new eyes onto the sport and helping drive interest as well as pay-per-view sales. You may believe they are ruining boxing or revolutionising a tired old sport depending on your perspective and most likely age, but there is no doubting the Pauls have changed the game for good. There has been a rapid acceleration from loud-mouth well-followed young influencers calling each other out online to Logan Paul stepping into a ring with Floyd Mayweather, arguably the greatest pound for pound fighter of all time.  British fans will tell you that this all started when Joe Weller and Theo Baker pulled on the gloves before YouTube behemoth KSI challenged Weller to a proper fight and defeated him. He then staged two fights with the elder Paul, winning ...