Josh PeterUSA TODAY
It's too early to know how Jake Paul and Nate Diaz will match up in the boxing ring. But the press conference Tuesday in advance of their 185-pound fight scheduled for eight rounds Aug. 5 in Dallas might go down as one of the oddest in recent memory.
That’s thanks to Diaz, 38, the legendary UFC fighter who will be making his professional boxing debut.
At times incoherent, Diaz at one point abruptly left the press conference. Paul looked bewildered until the moderator, Ariel Helwani, explained Diaz was just taking a bathroom break. He did return.
"I’ve never seen anything like it," Paul said of Diaz’s behavior.
Helwani asked the fighters for a prediction for the fight and Diaz, a native of Stockton, California, muttered a reply.
"What was his prediction?" Paul asked. “I just can’t understand. I don’t speak Stockton.’’
Diaz did audibly say he thinks the fight will end in the 10th round, at which point Paul reminded him the fight was scheduled for eight rounds.
"He’s slow, he’s slow," Paul later told reporters. "I could see already. So I already knew that, but he’s slower than I thought."
Diaz, who fought out his UFC contract in February, said he had no second thoughts about more combat sports even if it might not be good for his health.
"I don’t plan on going anywhere, anytime soon," he said.
'Filled with vengeance'
Paul (6-1 with six KO’s) is coming off his first loss — a split-decision defeat to Tommy Fury — and said the setback has impacted how he’s approaching this fight.
"I’m filled with vengeance, ambition, hunger, drive more than ever before," Paul said. "I have a lot to prove, two chips on each shoulder and it’s do-or-die for me. Truly this fight is do-or-die. I have to leave it all on the line. I think that’s the same for Nate Diaz."
Paul said the loss also prompted him to overhaul his training team, and that included hiring former world champion boxer Shane Mosley as his head trainer. Mosley also trained Paul for his first pro fight.
"We assembled the Avengers," Paul said. "I’ve switched up pretty much the whole entire team."
Diaz, who has fought only mixed martial arts as a pro, defended his decision to enter the boxing ring. In fact, he said he started boxing when he was 15 and sparred against former light heavyweight champion Andre Ward.
"And I don’t think I ever got my ass whipped in a boxing gym and not came back and been the last guy to win, win the rounds," said Diaz, who was known for his striking ability in UFC. "…I would have been a pro boxer when I was 18 years old but a cage fight came up first, so I was stuck in the cages my whole career."
Apology for colorful language
There were few fireworks during the press conference. But it got lively when Diaz proclaimed, "I’m the best fighter to fight in the UFC, straight up."
Replied Paul: "Your record doesn’t agree with that. You’re like 32-15."
(For the record, Diaz’s MMA record is 22-13 and his most memorable victory was a submission of Conor McGregor in 2016.)
"Yeah, brother, but what’s up?" Diaz said, suggesting he was the victim of controversial decisions.
Paul zeroed in on Diaz’s double-digit defeats.
"Yeah, but who did I fight?" Diaz said. “Top 10. I’ve been fighting top 10 guys the whole time.’’
Both fighters used plenty of colorful language during the press conference that was live streamed on YouTube.
"Well go to the next question," Helwani said. "Before we do so, I just want to apologize to the audience at home for bad language."
And the profanity began anew.
'Shout out to Logan'
Diaz, who recently turned himself in to New Orleans police for choking out a Logan Paul look-a-like, was asked about the legal issue. He insisted the man was Logan Paul and said, "Shout out to Logan, he’ll be all right."
Then Diaz added of the incident: "You don’t want to just hit people out there. That’s (expletive) dangerous, you know what I’m saying? Give them a little nap."
But it’ll be fisticuffs when Jake Paul and Diaz enter the ring in 88 days at American Airlines Center.
"August 5 you’re going to see me knock him out and put a stint in his plans of going back to the UFCand fighting Conor McGregor," Paul said.
