Eddie Hearn thinks Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz is a "mismatch" as the boxing promoter predicts Paul will win by knockout inside four rounds.
Paul, 26, will welcome UFC legend Diaz, 38, to the ring on August 5 as the pair clash at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The YouTuber boxer has been pushing for a fight against Diaz ever since knocking out Tyron Woodley in their December 2021 rematch, but negotiations weren't able to take place until Diaz became a free agent last September.
Fans have begun to fear the worst for Diaz after a recent training clip emerged of him hitting pads. Former boxing world champion Andre Ward believes Diaz's style was misinterpreted in the clip, but Hearn agrees with fans who believe that Diaz's boxing skills are subpar and he will be knocked out by Paul.
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“I watched clips of Nate Diaz hit pads and I was like [shocked],” Hearn said on The MMA Hour. "You know that it’s going to be a mismatch against Jake Paul. I love Nate Diaz, I love him. Listen, I’ve only met him a couple times, what a gent, but for it to be a mismatch against Jake Paul?
”It won't go four [rounds] unless it's all a bit of a bluff from Nate with what I saw. When you see people hit pads, you just know. We're talking about Jake Paul, we're not talking about [Tyson] Fury or AJ [ Anthony Joshua ] fighting an MMA fighter, we're talking about Jake Paul."
Paul's fight against Diaz was originally booked for eight rounds but Diaz had called for more rounds as he predicted that Paul's only chance to win is in the early rounds. "If I'm going to get knocked out, it's going to be right off the gate or the next three f****ng rounds," Diaz said.
Despite calling for the rule change, Diaz then backed down from Paul agreeing to change the fight to 10 rounds as he tweeted: "I'm good with eight". The fight has now officially been changed to 10 rounds, marking the longest fight Paul has been booked in since ditching his YouTube fame for a career in the ring. Diaz has been booked in several 25-minute UFC fights during his combat sports career, but the 10 round fight against Paul will also be the longest scheduled bout of his career.
