Boxing
Is Jake Paul the biggest boxing surprise of 2021?
Watch The DAZN Boxing Show and live fights on DAZN
While some of boxing's biggest names have been fairly inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic, one fighter who has stayed busy is YouTube star turned boxer Jake Paul.
The man known as 'The Problem Child' has fought five times over the last two years and is slowly starting to gain respect from fans and respected figures within the sport.
On the latest episode of The DAZN Boxing Show, Barak respected the hard work Paul has been putting towards his professional boxing career, but now wants him to face an outright boxer instead of UFC fighters.
"Do I think he [Jake Paul] needs to fight a boxer next, yes. Eventually this is going to get old fighting non boxers at least to me," Barak said.
"I will not be paying for PPV if he’s not going to start fighting boxers, but then again it’s going to be hard for him to get that same kind of audience fighting a boxer that’s not well known.
"What he has shown is growth.
"He’s getting so much hype, but you got to respect why. He put in that work and became a superstar."
Ak meanwhile agreed with his co-presenter and believes boxing is now reaching a younger audience as a result of Paul.
"I would say Jake is the biggest surprise this year for a lot of people and I like what you said there ‘growth’.
"He showed growth inside the ring. I’m not going to keep beating a dead horse about this guy’s already been a star before boxing, so I don’t want to hear about why he’s getting paid this much money.
"Why is he fighting on this big platform, he’s fighting on the Showtime platform who has a long history with the sport of boxing, and they got into bed with him because they know what they’re going to get.
"I see more kids at the fight than any other fight I’ve been to in my entire life."
