Jake Paul came in seven-plus pounds heavier Thursday than for any of his first eight professional fights.
Paul stepped on the Florida Athletic Commission’s scale at a career-high 199.4 pounds for his eight-round cruiserweight fight against Andre August on Friday night in Orlando, Florida. August officially weighed 198.6 pounds.
The 26-year-old Paul (7-1, 4 KOs) will fight a pro boxer for just the second time in a career he launched in January 2020 when he squares off against August (10-1-1, 5 KOs). The 35-year-old August has won five fights in a row since his lone loss, a third-round, technical-knockout defeat to Eric Abraham (then 3-3) in September 2018 at Arabia Shrine Center in Houston.
Paul, of Westlake, Ohio, defeated former UFC star Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in his last fight, a 10-rounder August 5 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Paul weighed in 14.4 pounds lighter for his fight with Diaz, who also weighed 185 pounds.
Tommy Fury dealt Paul his only loss in his previous fight, an eight-rounder England’s Fury won by split decision February 26 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia.
The bout between Paul and August will headline DAZN’s four-fight stream Friday night from Caribe Royale Orlando. The weights for the six Paul-August undercard bouts are listed below.
DAZN
7:30 p.m. ET; 4:30 p.m. PT
Shadasia Green (13-0, 11 KOs), Paterson, New Jersey, 167.2 pounds vs. Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-2, 2 KOs), Baltimore, 167.6 pounds, 10 rounds for the vacant WBC women’s super middleweight title.
Yoenis Tellez (6-0, 5 KOs), Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 153.6 pounds vs. Livan Navarro (15-1, 9 KOs), Miami, 153.8 pounds, 10 rounds, junior middleweights.
Lorenzo Medina (8-0, 7 KOs), Hollywood, Florida, 244.4 pounds vs. Joshua Temple (12-2, 10 KOs), St. Louis, 221.8 pounds, 6 rounds, heavyweights.
Not streamed
Elijah Flores (6-0, 2 KOs), Redlands, California, 149 pounds vs. Javier Mayoral (6-3-1, 1 KO), New Orleans, 148 pounds, 6 rounds, junior middleweights.
Alexander Gueche (2-0, 2 KOs), Long Beach, California, 116.4 pounds vs. Clayton Ward (1-0, 1 KO), Cypress, Texas, 116.6 pounds, 4 rounds, bantamweights.
Zachary Randolph (9-3-1, 3 KOs), West Virginia, 186.8 pounds vs. Michael Manna (7-5, 4 KOs), Pittsburgh, 191 pounds, 6 rounds, cruiserweights.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.