Coach Teddy Atlas explains how Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley is going to help the sport of boxing
The Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley fight is expected to be one of the biggest events in boxing and in all of combat sports in 2021.
On that note, legendary boxing coach Teddy Atlas has addressed the impact of Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley on the sport of boxing. In an edition of MMA on SiriusXM with Jimmy Smith, Atlas responded to Smith asking whether the fight is good or bad for boxing. Atlas stated:
“Yeah, unfortunately, you’re a very smart guy. You ask very good, pertinent questions. And that’s gonna get me in trouble because all the boxing lifers out there are gonna say, ‘Oh my God, Teddy Atlas! You didn’t say that! Please chase these, whatever; chase them away from us. Get rid of them. Please. They’re destroying our business. They’re taking the integrity away from the business. Please get rid of them’. Listen, I’m sorry, guys. Put your earplugs in if you don’t want to hear it. I’m sorry. It actually helps. The same way as the Rocky movie helped. It brings attention to the sport. It don’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt. If anything, it helps.”
Atlas reiterated that Jake Paul will draw more fans to boxing:
“It brings more attention to this sport. You know, it’s like putting those lights up in the sky when you open up a new restaurant. And people see, and they say, ‘What’s that? Oh, I’m gonna go over there. I’m gonna see what it is’. They go over there. They won’t think about eating. But when they get there, they eat because they get there! And it’s the same thing with this. It’s gonna draw more people, more eyeballs; pay attention to boxing, think about boxing a little bit more. So, it’s not gonna hurt it.”
Teddy Atlas feels Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley won’t hurt boxing’s real fights
Teddy Atlas believes that Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley and other such crossover celebrity boxing matches won’t hurt the sport’s important elite-level fights. Atlas said:
“And it’s a whole different ballgame. It’s a whole different package. I mean, it’s a different medium. I mean, people, the real boxing fans know where the real fights are. That’s not being taken away from them. They still know where to get those. They still can get those fights.”
“This is different. This is for the curiosity seekers. This is a crossover thing. This is for where 20 people get together, and they booze it up in their house, and say, ‘Let’s watch this maniac. Let’s watch this guy who’s getting into a ring. Guess what he was doing? What was he doing? He’s fighting a YouTube guy. Really? Yeah. And he’s fighting a real fighter. Wow! Yeah, let’s watch it’. You know, what this is. It’s a phenomenon. It’s brilliant,” he added.
The Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley professional boxing match will take place on August 29th, 2021.