Ben Askren unveils customized Jake Paul punching bag

Ben Askren will have no trouble visualizing Jake Paul as he prepares for their anticipated professional boxing match.

Askren, the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight titleholder and a former contender in the UFC, is slated to meet Paul in an eight-round pro boxing match on April 17. Ahead of the fight, he’s received a customized punching bag adorned with an image of Paul’s face.

See it below:

My man @realdanlasavage had an awesome surprise for me this morning when I stopped in to pick up gear at @combatcrnr !!! @jakepaul @triller pic.twitter.com/Zm1Lk9aYp7

— Funky (@Benaskren) February 1, 2021

“This is glorious,” Askren said after unveiling his new punching bag. “I’m going to hang this up in the academy and the kids are going to go nuts.”

Despite his status as one of the best welterweights of his generation, Askren has never been known for his boxing, instead achieving his success with his world-class wrestling skill. Nonetheless, he’s confident his hands are sharp enough to make pretty easy work of Paul in the ring.

“My goal in fighting was never to box somebody,” Askren told TMZ Sports, previewing the fight with Paul. “My goal was to get through the punches and kicks and get to the takedowns and 99% of the time that worked. Obviously, there is one time it didn’t work, unfortunately [against Jorge Masvidal]. My training was very focused on that. That being said, obviously, I’m going to have to change up what I was doing striking wise a little bit. But listen, he’s a f*cking YouTube star. I’m going to beat him up.”

“I have not been blessed with big power,” Askren continued. “I have incredibly slow-twitch muscle fibers. So I don’t think it won’t be more that I hit him and he goes down. But I think it will be more like over the course of eight rounds he realizes, ‘Holy sh*t, I’m in a fight. I don’t really like this. I’m a spoiled rich kid. I’m just going to find an easy way out.’ It’s going to be a TKO. Round six, round seven, something to that effect.”

Do you think Ben Askren can stop Jake Paul in the boxing ring?