Jake Paul received high praise from PFL founder Donn Davis, who labeled him as the greatest marketer and promoter in combat sports since Muhammad Ali. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier strongly disagreed with those comparisons, pointing out that the late great boxing icon was one of a kind.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former double champ stated:
"Is there a comparison between Jake Paul and Muhammad Ali? Because we know that Muhammad Ali is the greatest promoter of our generation, of his generation. Muhammad Ali's the greatest promoter in the history of combat sports. I don't agree, but the venture capitalist Donn Davis does. He stated that if you look at each of them individually, Jake is the best marketing promoter we've ever seen in combat sports - maybe since Muhammad Ali."
Cormier continued:
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"The Paul brothers are social giants, and I talked about Jake Paul a few weeks ago, how I have a newfound respect for him. That's absolutely true, but anytime you place anyone in a category with Muhammad Ali, you are going to get kickback, especially a category that he dominated, but come on Donn Davis, you're putting them on the same level as Muhammad Ali? We all lie, but come on, man.
Paul recently signed with the PFL, which gives Davis an incentive to overstate his promotion abilities. While the former YouTube star has managed to remain relevant due to his massive following, that has not translated to pay-per-view buys. In addition to Ali, there are several promoters from the modern era, including Floyd Mayweather and Dana White, who have been far more successful than Paul.
Watch Daniel Cormier discuss the comparison between Jake Paul and Muhammad Ali below:
What did Donn Davis say about Jake Paul and Muhammad Ali?
PFL founder Donn Davis made headlines when he labeled Jake Paul as the greatest promoter in combat sports. Speaking to TSN, Davis stated:
"If you look at each of them individually, Jake is the best marketer and promoter we've seen in combat sports ever. Ever. Maybe since Muhammad Ali... Jake has more followers and more engagements than the UFC himself."
The latter part of Davis' statement is untrue as the UFC has more followers on social media than Paul. Furthermore, the majority of his followers were from long before he began his boxing career when he was primarily a social media star.
Check out Donn Davis' full comments below: