Boxing

Jake Paul’s first opponent launches surprise defense of former rival after Mike Tyson fight… ‘I felt sorry for Mike’

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YouTube boxer AnEsonGib has emerged as a surprise ally of Jake Paul amid criticism over his big win last year.

The social media stars fought each other in their professional boxing debut in 2020, with Paul winning via TKO in the first round. Since then they have forged their own successful fighting careers, with 'Gib' now set to compete in the main event of a Misfits Boxing supercard in Qatar.

Last week in Dallas, Paul had the biggest night of his career to date when he faced legendary former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson live on Netflix. And despite widespread criticism, his old rival was impressed with some aspects of the show.

AnEsonGib was impressed with the Netflix presentation for Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson

One key aspect of influencer boxing that has always captured the imagination of AnEsonGib, whose real name is Ali Al-Fakkri, is storytelling. He is known for his ability to build a story that culminates in a fight, perhaps most famously when he fought Paul in 2020.

And while he admits the fight itself wasn't a great spectacle, he did have some good things to say about last week's big Netflix show. Speaking exclusively to Bloody Elbow ahead of his fight with Slim Albaher, he explained: “It was a great exhibition.

“It was a good platform to stand on [with Netflix]no one was seriously hurt, but yeah, you felt bad for Mike a few times. He didn't look sharp or good… Mike didn't get hit too hard, right? From the clips I saw it didn't look that bad.

“I like his journey so far, he has done well. I'm not sure where he'll go next, but I'm sure he and his team will make a perfect plan. The event was successful, so I'm sure they have a plan.”

AnEsonGib looks back on the fight with Jake Paul five years later

In 2020, 'Gib' managed to talk his way into a showdown with Paul in Miami, who went against him despite almost every metric. The American, despite attracting fewer viewers on YouTube at the time, was a much bigger name and also demanded that his rival move up to cruiserweight.

However, the Saudi-born Briton pushed forward and continued to put pressure on Paul, ultimately losing on the three knockdown rule in their Super Bowl week fight. Since that loss, he has become the only one of Paul's victims to continue fighting and not lose once since their confrontation.

“I remember being in YouTuber mode,” he explained. “I made a lot of videos to promote the fight and I did a good job. So once I lost I was like, 's***, I wasn't taking boxing as seriously as I should'.

“When it was announced, there was four weeks of camp and I trained hard then, but in the offseason I didn't train as hard as I should have. So I dedicated my time to the amateur gyms and what a redemption story I've had since then.

“I've turned down promotions, Social Gloves, Kingpyn, so I liked my story; from the highs to the lows, they all meant something.”