JAKE PAUL claimed Conor McGregor ‘doesn’t have that hunger anymore’ and said the UFC star is ‘way easier’ than Floyd Mayweather.
The YouTuber, who is 2-0 as a boxer, has chased a fight with McGregor and even claimed to have a $50million cheque waiting to go.
Paul’s viral goading took a turn in January after McGregor was knocked out by Dustin Poirier, and taunted that his offer now stood at just $10,000.
The social media sensation – who was called out by Floyd Mayweather – has questioned the Irishman’s desire.
And as a result, he feels Mayweather, 43, is by far the harder opponent to beat compared to McGregor, 32, who was beaten by the American legend.
Paul, 24, said on the I AM ATHLETE podcast: “Conor, Conor is way easier than Floyd.
“Conor is way easier than Floyd and Conor, just like Ben Askren is doing currently, Conor will underestimate me, he’ll come into the ring, be like ‘this is an easy payday’.
“He just doesn’t have that hunger anymore, that’s why he got starched in his last fight, it’s because he has everything.
“He doesn’t need to fight for s*** anymore.”
Paul has two knockouts to his name, against online rival ‘AnEsonGib’ and ex-NBA star Nate Robinson.
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And he is now set to face retired UFC welterweight Ben Askren, 36, in his third pro bout, scheduled for April 17.
But Mayweather, who is due to fight Jake’s brother Logan, 25, this year, said he would box the younger Paul afterwards, should he beat Askren.
The 43-year-old officially retired in 2017 after stopping McGregor in ten rounds.
He did return for an exhibition bout a year later, wiping out featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in one round.
Mayweather will face Logan – who lost his pro debut to rival KSI in 2019 – in a similar spectacle but their initial February 20 date was postponed.
The Pauls have a farcical experience and skill disparity to Mayweather, but do outweigh and outreach the ex-welterweight king.
And Jake warned the all-time great that he is risking his legacy by agreeing to fight the novice but much larger celebrity brothers.
He said: “He’s one of the greatest ever, if not the greatest ever and I respect him and his whole entire career.
“But, you know we’ll see what happens with him and my brother. He’s been inactive, he’s 40-something-year’s old now.
“And again, everyone he’s fought, he’s fought them at 150-pounds. I’m coming in 210, it is a difference, it is a difference.
“I’m coming in early in my career, I don’t see us fighting for another 18-months-24 months but you know who knows what will happen?
He continued: “If you play with the fire too long, you’re going to get burnt.
“I think he’s making mistakes here. He’s going to ruin his legacy by trying to f*** around and do one of these fights.
“Defence, he’s ducking all these 150-pounders, 145-pounders but even then Shane Mosley almost sleeps him at 145-pounds.
“All I’ve got to do is hit him once at 210-pounds and…”
