Ben Askren has now made the offer to choke out Jake Paul in their impending boxing match provided fans can cover the cost of him breaking the rules. This is just the latest in a long buildup for one of the strangest boxing matches of the last few years, buildup that started when a video was released of Ben Askren sparring in preparation for the match. Since then, the two men have gone back and forth both on social media and in interviews with other fighters even getting caught in the crossfire, like Askren taking shots at Dillon Danis.
Naturally, the match will be contested under traditional boxing rules and Askren would certainly incur a heavy fine if he were to break them in order to submit Paul. This would put a huge dent in his $500,000 purse, but Ben Askren is apparently happy to put choke out Jake Paul provided fans can make up more than the difference:
“One of you guys can start a GoFundMe – how much would you give me to choke Jake Paul out with a guillotine? If the number’s bigger than my purse, maybe I’ll do it.” Askren said during open workouts earlier this week according to The Mirror. While it might be a big ask for fans to come up with more than half a million dollars, as is Askren’s reported purse, it seems as though Darren Till is eager to help out just to see Jake Paul get outwrestled by an Olympic contender.
If @Benaskren shoots for a double leg Saturday night & slams @jakepaul on his head.
He won’t need to worry about his purse because welle set up a Go-Fund me for him.— D (@darrentill2) April 15, 2021
That being said, Askren is confident that he’ll be able to stick to the agreed-upon rules and still come out the clear victor of his match with Jake Paul as he is still a lifelong athlete matching up against a YouTube personality: “Boxing, obviously it’s different, but I told someone the other day that I’m really good at athletics. I wanted to be a really great wrestler. I won NCAA titles and made the Olympics. I wanted to be a good mixed martial artist. I won multiple belts in multiple organizations. If I want to beat up an amateur boxer, it ain’t gonna take me more than three months of training to do so.”
This makes sense considering that Askren has gone on record to say that he thinks boxing is easier to train for than MMA, and even wrestling. With that in mind, of course he believes he can put a beating on a YouTube star who has decided to try his hand at combat sports.
