Khabib Nurmagomedov 's trainer thinks Jake Paul is too big for Conor McGregor and would beat him in a boxing fight.
Paul has pushed for a fight with former two-weight UFC champion McGregor since ditching his YouTube fame to take boxing seriously. McGregor, who makes his UFC return later this year, has downplayed the American's call-outs but refused to rule out the fight entirely.
Javier Mendez, the founder and head coach of American Kickboxing Academy, believes the 25-year-old possess a huge size and power advantage over the UFC star that would be evident if they stepped in the ring.
"I would favour Jake Paul at 175 over Conor in a boxing ring because he’s too big but you can’t count Conor out," he told Betway Insider US. "Conor’s a good boxer, so you can’t discount his boxing ability but the size is a little much.
"Jake Paul hits extremely hard as you can tell by what he’s done. If you haven’t woken up to Jake Paul’s ability they better because he’s only improving. So I think the size is a big difference and the power would be too much for Conor."
Paul stepped in the ring three times last year, knocking out Ben Askren and defeating ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley twice. 'The Problem Child' is currently taking some time off before plotting his first fight of the calendar year.
He has called out several names for his next fight, such as former world titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Paul has challenged McGregor to fight at 175lbs, but UFC boss Dana White has downplayed the fight and thinks Paul should challenge fighters his own size.
Paul has competed at 192lbs and a 175lb fight with McGregor would mark a career-low weight for the American. McGregor has competed at welterweight, 170lbs, three times in the UFC but usually competes at 155lbs.
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Despite having limited experience with five professional fights under his belt, Mendez thinks Paul holds a significant power advantage over McGregor. The coach is confident Paul would beat McGregor in the ring as the American is no longer a "novice" boxer.
"Sometimes you can be bigger and not punch harder, but in this case Jake Paul is bigger than Conor and punches harder and he’s good, so all three variables are with Jake. He’s just a bigger man fighting a smaller man," he continued.
"Jake Paul also isn’t necessarily a novice anymore. He’s experienced in dealing with high pressure fights, and he’s proven he's able to handle that pressure. So it’s a big man versus a little man and the big man just so happens to have more firepower."
