A Saturday night at Staples Center resulted in YouTube star Jake Paul standing bored in the corner, former NBA dunk champion Nate Robinson out cold on the floor and millions of pay-per-viewers wonder what on God’s green earth they had just watched.
Officially, the boxing match ended midway through the second round as a Paul KO, but calling it a boxing match might be generous.
It did end with a punch, but what came before was a preposterous rinse-and-repeat of Robinson charging his opponent, taking a counterpunch or two, then clinching until any more action was impossible.
Robinson became an NBA fan favorite through his lack of height in a league of giants, but in this sport, he was unable to find a distance where he could evenly trade blows with the 6-foot-1 Paul. Paul twice knocked down Robinson in the first round, then did the same in the second round.
The final punch mercifully ended things.
The lack of skill on display was already making waves on social media, but Robinson’s body hitting the floor triggered a tsunami of mockery and disbelief. Did people really pay money for this fight? Why wasn’t it stopped sooner? Did anyone involved in the event even see Robinson box before booking him?
Even Nick Young, arguably the NBA’s meme king, was joining the laughter. Along with the rest of the NBA.
NBA players react to Nate Robinson’s KO loss
That was no representation of the NBA Family lol
— Nick Young (@NickSwagyPYoung) November 29, 2020
Wtf did I just watch. 😂😂Well at least we have snoop. He’s been comedy
— Austin Rivers (@AustinRivers25) November 29, 2020
Damn everybody gone be Trynna square up with hoopers now 😂😂😂😂😂😂
— Hamidou Diallo (@hamidoudiallo) November 29, 2020
Ohhhhh the memes coming Nate Robinsons way for god knows how long…
— Kevin Huerter (@KevinHuerter) November 29, 2020
Robinson’s biggest defender might have been Paul, who said he was somehow expecting even less than what Robinson showed.
“He was better than expected, he’s athletic, super-strong obviously,” Paul said. “His basketball career has been amazing and I don’t want to take anything away from him. It takes a lot of balls to step in the ring, not a lot of people can do that.”
That was the best a reserved Paul could say about his opponent before calling out the likes of Conor McGregor and Dillon Danis, revealing he broke his nose meditating weeks before the fight, then saying it was now time to focus on his music.
The best we can say about the fight is it was at least entertaining, just in all the wrong ways.
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