Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is back in the ring when he faces YouTuber turned pro boxer Jake Paul on Saturday, October 29 at Desert Diamond Arena (formerly Gila River Arena) in Glendale, Arizona, just outside Phoenix. The pair squares off in the scheduled for eight rounds boxing match live on pay-per-view.
The event airs live on Showtime PPV in the United States, Kayo in Australia and FITE in other countries.
A longtime trainer, a new trainer and family dynamics played a big role in helping “The Spider” wrap up training camp on a positive note.
To understand Silva the polished boxer, one must first understand the close-knit, experienced team that’s surrounded him throughout this training camp near his home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., an exclusive suburb 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles, as they prepare for Paul. The YouTube personality is 5-0 and coming off a spectacular KO against another former UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
Silva’s team is led by longtime head coach Luiz Carlos Dorea, who has been with Silva through 19 years of training camps. Before his split-decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the summer of 2021, Silva enlisted the services of veteran boxing coach Nico Robledo. Robledo was sidelined after a serious bout with Covid-19 that left him in a coma for three months and in the hospital for more than five months last December to the end of April.
Silva has been joined in camp by Eliezer Silva, who is also fighting October 29, Brazilian boxer Hebert Conceicao, Robledo’s son Nico III, and even Silva’s son Kalyl.
Check out below what Silva, Dorea and Robledo had to say about facing Paul as training camp wrapped up:
Tickets for the event can be purchased via StubHub, TicketNetwork and Vivid Seats.
Anderson Silva
On the differences in training in mixed martial arts as opposed to training in boxing:
“It’s different because you have seven different disciplines in MMA but for boxing, I’m just training for boxing. And I need to train more with my footwork, the position of my hands. But I’ve been training for boxing for many, many years so it’s something I’m comfortable doing. Every single fight you have different things you train for. Every fight is different. For this fight, I’m training to fight a boxer.”
On his motivation:
“I don’t need the money anymore. People think the money is important, but it’s not. Of course, I’m going to make money from this fight because It’s my job. Don’t do something just for the money. Work because you have a passion. That’s what I’ve done and why I’ve been successful all my life.”
On being the betting favorite:
“There’s a lot of people who are saying Jake is no good, he’s not as good a striker. But to me the fight is a fight and I’m training hard to win this fight. I’m not looking at this as an easy fight for me. Every single fight is dangerous once you step through the ropes.”
If a loss will affect his legacy:
“I’m not going to lose. Nothing will affect my legacy. I’ve worked hard for many years to do something like this for my fans. This is one more fight – one more challenge for myself, but this won’t affect my legacy and career.”
On What the difference will be in this fight:
“The most important thing going into this fight is my experience. My experience is something that Jake doesn’t have. I love this challenge, that’s the secret to me and I go into this fight to prove my respect to the boxing community.”
Luiz Carlos Dorea
On Silva’s motivation:
“Anderson’s motivation is above normal for this fight. Being able to train at home in Los Angeles with those who are close to him is even better and motivates him even more. Each week he got better and better. I’m very happy because Anderson is very motivated for this camp. It’s a great honor to work with Anderson. I’ve been with him for over 19 years, and I still see him as super motivated and ready to take on any challenge. He’s very motivated.”
On Silva training for boxing:
“The training is much calmer because boxing is his realm and his comfort level. I’m a boxing coach and Anderson learns very fast, so I feel very confident in his boxing skills. Anderson is the biggest striker of all time in MMA so it’s a much easier job for me to get him ready. Anderson is an athlete where I have to tell him to stop in training because he always wants more and more and more, and that motivation is inspiring and motivates the whole team.”
On not looking past Jake Paul:
“We always respect the adversary, no matter who it is. That’s why Anderson is training extra hard because Anderson is very disciplined. The training is always the same to confront any great athlete. We can’t underestimate anyone.
“It’s going to be the biggest show of all time. Jake Paul is going to finally have the biggest athlete he ever fought in front of him. He’s going to be fighting a legend, so it’s going to be a great show.”
Nico Robledo
On recovering from Covid:
“I’m so fortunate to my family for not deciding to pull the plug. The reason they waited an extra week was because my children lost their mother on the same day also to Covid. I got out of the hospital on April 23, and a week later I was back and training my son for US Nationals.”
On Silva training for boxing:
“MMA is a transition to boxing, for sure. He’s a great athlete and has the heart of a lion – he’s truly a warrior. It hasn’t been easy, but at the same time it hasn’t been hard. He’s 47, but he trains like he’s 27. He gives 100 percent all the time. He’s always positive and has a smile on his face. He’s willing to learn and that makes training camps so much easier.
“It was actually funny because when we first started, he was trying to do some kicks. Overall, he’s caught up really well, and he knows he can’t take someone down but has to rely on his punches and his boxing skills.”
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