Cedric Doumbe

Bio

Right then, Cedric Doumbe is one of the biggest names in combat sports that a lot of boxing fans have never watched. The Frenchman is a former two-time GLORY kickboxing world champion with a 75-7-1 record and 45 knockouts, and he has gone 6-1 in MMA with six stoppages as a PFL star. In France he is box office.

Doumbe is fast, explosive and brimming with confidence. He talks a big game and he usually backs it up, and in kickboxing his timing and power made him one of the most feared strikers on the planet. If you know, you know.

His boxing career is in its infancy, with one professional fight and one win. His next assignment is a big one: Jake Paul over eight rounds at cruiserweight at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Christmas Eve. Doumbe says he does not need to be a good boxer, he only needs one punch.

Make no mistake, that one punch is real, and Paul will need to respect it early. But boxing is a different game without the kicks to set up the shots, and my view is that the experience gap will tell the longer the fight goes.