Andre Ward has hailed Jake Paul for his commitment to making it big in boxing despite starting his career late.

Paul, a YouTuber who transitioned into boxing, is billed to face the biggest test of his career against legendary “Iron” Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday. The fight marks Tyson’s nearly two-decade return to the ring following a sixth-round KO loss to Kevin McBride in 2005. 

The legendary Ward, who held multiple world championships at super middleweight and light heavyweight, praised Paul, 10-1 (7 KOs), for taking time to improve his boxing craft.

“I don't knock the hustle and I see where he started from on YouTube and trying to make a name for himself. I'm not familiar with that,” Ward noted during a discussion on All The Smoke Fight podcast.

“That's not how I came up, but I respect it. I've seen somebody who had a vision for his life, him and his brother, Logan. And they created this and were able to take the fan base and bring it over to boxing. Don't get mad because his fan base came over here. Big, huge fan base.

Ward refused to criticize the fight as many have done, describing it as an event rather than a championship fight.

“And in terms of the boxing piece, I know the guys getting the black eyes. He’s going through what fighters go through to try to perfect their craft. Now you got a long way to go on the technical side. We came up from the crib with this so we got a different flow with how we fight. So, he started late, you got a long way to go in terms of that, but I don't knock an event like this. It just is what it is. It's an event. It's not like a championship boxing match. People are coming out to see it. He's making money, his opponents are making money, so I respect it and I don't knock it though I know a lot of people do. 

Ward said he was not surprised that the bout would be added to the records of the fighters despite the many criticisms.

“I wasn't surprised because what's happening is not to go down this rabbit hole, but when you're talking about commissions and sanctioning bodies, they're gonna go where the money is.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at bernardneequaye@gmail.com.