Jake Paul to face former Golden Gloves champ Ryan Bourland on March 2
Editor’s note: This article was originally published at MMAJunkie.com.
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Jake Paul’s commitment to building his boxing record takes its next step on March 2, and now he has an opponent.
After previously announcing he would fight in the co-main event under Amanda Serrano vs. Nina Meinke in Puerto Rico, Paul (8-1, 5 KOs) finally has his matchup in place as the YouTuber-turned-boxer announced on Tuesday that he will take on former Golden Gloves champ Ryan Bourland (17-2, 6 KOs) in an eight-round cruiserweight bout that will stream on DAZN.
“I’ve always said my goal is to become a world champion” Paul said in a press release. “I beat a pro boxer (Andre August) in December in the first round, someone who’s been boxing their entire life, and what did I do next? I went straight back to camp to get ready to face my next opponent, a professional boxer who has twice as many professional fights under his belt than I do.
“It’s a new year, it’s an even better me, and I’m facing an even more experienced, seasoned boxer on Saturday, March 2 as co-main to the Puerto Rican GOAT, Amanda Serrano.
“I’m fighting for experience, not for the money, and to show my love for this beautiful island I’ll be donating my entire fight purse from this event to my nonprofit Boxing Bullies to help renovate gyms across Puerto Rico.”
After spending the majority of his early boxing career fighting and beating former MMA standouts such as Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley, Anderson Silva and Nate Diaz, the career philosophy of Paul changed to focus on matchups with opponents who come from boxing backgrounds.
Paul scored a thunderous first-round knockout of August in his most recent fight, and now he will try to keep that momentum against Bourland, a Golden Gloves Champion, former National Junior Olympian and the first ever two-time GBO light heavyweight champion, who is plotting a shocking performance.
“Jake Paul steps into the ring with his social media clout, but let’s not mistake followers for experience or skill,” Bourland said.. “While he’s been busy chasing likes, I’ve been honing my craft for years, stepping into the ring and beating real boxers. On Saturday, March 2 I will shock the world and put an end to Jake Paul’s boxing career.”
According to the fight announcement press release, Paul will “donate his full fight purse to his nonprofit, Boxing Bullies, to renovate youth boxing gyms across Puerto Rico.”