Jake Paul called out by NBA legend as he trains with Manny Pacquiao

Connor Bennett
Jake Paul sat holding a microphone for FULL SEND podcast

Jake Paul has been called out by NBA legend Dwight Howard as he’s now getting help from Manny Pacquaio on his boxing skills.

When Jake Paul first got into the world of boxing, he wasn’t fighting longtime boxers, but rather athletes from other sports trying to make a go of it. His first crossover fight came against former NBA star Nate Robinson and ended with Jake scoring a pretty brutal knockout victory. 

Since then, ‘The Problem Child’ has taken on a few more serious fights and has openly talked about his ambitions of winning a boxing world title and even fighting pound-for-pound titans like Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a wild superfight. 

Despite all that, there is still a crossover element to his fights. A number of retired mixed martial artists have called Jake out for a fight, but there are also athletes from other sports still doing it too. 

Jake Paul called out by Dwight Howard for boxing fight

That includes former NBA star Dwight Howard, who posted a video of himself with boxing legend Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquaio as he was getting some speed bag work in. 

In the short clips, the former Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers center mentioned Jake by name and seemed to suggest he was open for a fight as he tweeted “Dwight Howard vs Jake Paul” with a boxing glove emoji. 

“Yeah Jake, yeah Jake, yeah Jake, I’m getting right Jake,” he said in one of his videos. “I’m training here, me and Manny Pacquaio. Jake Paul, I’m coming for you baby, I’m coming, let’s go!” Howard added in a second. 

The eight-time NBA all-star has been out of the league since 2022, playing overseas instead. He’s currently playing for an organization based in the Philippines, which explains the crossover with Pacquaio. 

A fight with Howard is probably not on Jake’s radar, seeing as he’s trying to focus more on established boxers and is fighting again on March 2. Though, who knows, it’s you can never say never when it comes to the fight game.