Jake Paul made good on his promise of a knockout.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer improved his pro record to 8-1 with five knockouts with a first-round stoppage victory over cruiserweight Andre August in a main event fight on Friday night in Orlando, Florida.
The bout marked Paul’s first return to the ring since outpointing mixed martial arts legend and former UFC Championship contender Nate Diaz in 10 boxing rounds this past April.
Paul, 26, knocked out August in Round 1 with a right uppercut, dropping his foe’s pro record to 10-2-1 with five knockouts.
“I said first-round knockout all week,” Paul said in his post-fight interview after recording the third first-round knockout of his career.
“I manifested this. This is the power of manifestation. I said I needed to bring back the old ‘Problem Child,’ I’ve been too nice to these guys, letting them go to the later rounds,” he added.
Paul set up the right uppercut over the shorter August by leaning on his jab and smartly fighting from the outside.
He utilized his 6-foot-1, 76-inch reach advantages over the 5-foot-10 August, who is nearly 10 years his senior.
August, who boxed his way to a decision win this summer, recently returned after four years away from the sport.
Though sporting a mildly impressive 10-1-1 record prior to tonight’s loss, August’s opponents’ held a combined record of 34-66-6 before the Paul bout.
The fight was stopped with around 30 seconds remaining in the opening round.
“I don’t know what I proved tonight, you know,” Paul said. “I’m just going to do me. This is part of the process, the next step to becoming world champion. … All I wanted to do was give y’all a knockout for Christmas.”
Paul now has two wins since suffering his first boxing loss to Tommy Fury this past February via split decision.
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