YOUTUBER turned boxer Jake Paul has been named as Sports Illustrated’s Breakout Boxer of the Year.
Paul fought three times in 2021, winning all of the bouts.
But in total the 24-year-old has fought just five times in his career since making his pro debut in January 2020.
Paul told American magazine Sports Illustrated: “To think about how all the things that happened in the fashion that it all happened, it’s just sort of mind-blowing.”
The company chose him for the award on the back of his performances in the ring, and being ‘one of boxing’s biggest attractions’ outside it.
His first fight of 2021 came in April, with Paul savagely knocking out former MMA star Ben Askren in less than two minutes.
A bout against former UFC-champ Tyron Woodley followed in August.
That one was a much closer contest – Paul coming out on top via split decision.
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But there was only one winner when the pair faced off again in December.
A brutal right-hand from Paul dropped Woodley to the canvas in the sixth round as the social media star secured a fourth KO victory in five professional fights.
And for those performances he scored the Breakout Boxer of the Year award from Sports Illustrated.
His huge marketability is also a factor in landing the title, as Sports Illustrated claim they have crowned him ‘not for his potential, but for what he already is.’
Paul boasts over 20million subscribers on YouTube, 18million followers on Instagram, and nearly 16million on TikTok.
Boxing purists though fumed at the decision, as one begged on Twitter: “Stop this madness.”
And another raged: “But he’s not boxing. He’s taking on career MMA fighters known for fighting on the ground and making them box. It’s a load of garbage. Fight a damn BOXER.”
The latest announcement follows the news that Paul was also the winner of ESPN’s KO of the year.
That award was for the brutal beatdown of Woodley in December – and was voted for by fans.
He was originally due to lock horns with Tommy Fury, not Woodley, before the Love Islander withdrew from their grudge match due to illness and injury.
