Butterbean knocking out referee after he ‘obtained in manner’ offers Jake Paul a lot to consider

Jake Paul will need to consider long and hard if he wants the fire Butterbean will bring in the ring after the knockout artist called him out.

The 58-year-old icon didn’t mince his words when he spoke to Chris Van Vliet in 2023, admitting he’s itching for a comeback to show Paul a thing or two. He said: “I would love to fight Jake Paul, but he’s too smart to fight me.

“I’m not saying he’s a coward or anything like that, but I would destroy him. I think he knows, I mean, I hit way too hard for him. Once you’re in the heavyweight division, you’re a heavyweight. 197lbs is heavyweight.”

Butterbean revealed a personal sting from Paul’s comments, as he said: “He made a statement a while back about me. He was like, ‘I’m not like Butterbean, I’m not a joke’. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to fight him. Just to show him. I mean, if he thinks I’m a joke, I want to fight him.”

And if Paul needed any more convincing of Butterbean’s formidable approach to the sport, he should cast his mind back to a 1995 bout where Butterbean famously floored a referee who “got in his way”.

The boxing legend clashed with Pat Jackson at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Louisiana, wearing down the journeyman by the third round. Jackson was cornered and fatigued by the fight, as Butterbean readied for the finishing blow.

However, referee Terry Wood stepped in at the bell and an oblivious Esch swung his right arm, connecting straight with Wood’s face, dropping the ref instantly to the canvas. The fight took a pause to attend to the downed official.

While Wood received medical attention, Jackson gave up and chucked in the towel, handing victory to Butterbean. Afterwards, the hefty boxer offered his apologies to the referee. He insisted such incidents are par for the course when you come to his close to his brutal swings.

Esch said: “He just got in the way. If somebody gets in the way, they go down. It weren’t intentional, but it happens.”

Wood agreed with Butterbean’s words, adding: “I’m fine. It goes with the territory. If you’re gonna get in that ring, you’re gonna get hit. The timekeeper gave the ten seconds shout, I got close to the boxers as you do at that time.

“They were in the heat of the battle, didn’t hear the ball and Eric caught me with one.”

This approach to boxing and the never-give-up mantra of Butterbean could serve as a foreboding warning to Paul, who is riding high on confidence after his victory over Tyson. The fighting icon is one of several figthers to have called out Paul as the YouTuber weighs up his next move.