Tyron Woodley

Jake Paul will face former UFC champion Tyron Woodley in his fourth professional boxing match.

The YouTube sensation will enter the ring for the fourth time as a professional to battle former UFC champion Woodley in his first Showtime Boxing match.

Paul will make the news on Tuesday afternoon and then face Woodley on Friday, 48 hours before his brother Logan's exhibition fight with Floyd Mayweather.

We understand that Woodley, who held the UFC welterweight belt from 2016 to 2019, began training with renowned trainer Eric Brown earlier this month.

Paul teased the fight announcement, saying, "This will be the biggest fight ever." This will be the most difficult fight I've ever had, with the toughest opponent by far, and the most well-known opponent. We will set yet another boxing pay-per-view record.”

The polarising social media star is 3-0 as a professional boxer, having defeated MMA great Ben Askren last month, while Woodley will be making his professional debut.

Paul made his pro debut in January of last year, fighting fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib on the undercard of a world title fight between Demetrius Andrade and Luke Keeler in Miami, halting him in the first round after landing three knockdowns.

(Image: Getty Images for Triller)

Later that year, he returned to battle former NBA player Nate Robinson as part of Mike Tyson's comeback event, in which the boxing icon met Roy Jones Jr in an exhibition.

Paul scored a viral knockout on the former New York Knick, catapulting him into conversations with UFC champions such as Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping.

In his first headline event as part of the new Triller Fight Club company, Paul faced former Olympic wrestler and Bellator champion Askren, whom he defeated in the opening two minutes.

Since then, he has heated up boxing and MMA competitors, producing notable scenes with Floyd Mayweather and Daniel Cormier and engaging in a dispute with UFC head Dana White.

He even enraged world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, whose brother and Love Island star Tommy was eyeing a bout with Paul.

But it will be against Woodley that Paul takes the next step in legitimising his boxing career, as he makes his debut with Showtime Boxing, which is home to Floyd Mayweather and the Charlo Brothers, among others.

Woodley lost the final four fights of his UFC contract, most notably to Vicente Luque, before negotiating his departure from the organisation.

Paul made his boxing debut in August 2018, when he battled YouTuber Deji Olatunji in a white-collar boxing battle that he won in the fifth round.

He rose to stardom on the now-defunct video sharing website Vine and gained international recognition after being cast as an actor on Disney Channel.

He has over 60 million followers across his YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok profiles, and his most recent fight with Askren reportedly surpassed 1.5 million pay-per-view buys, making it the joint tenth best-selling boxing event of all time.

He also fought on the undercard of Tyson v Jones Jr, the sixth highest-selling PPV, and his amateur debut was viewed by as many as 1.2 million live PPV watchers on YouTube, although at a discounted ticket of just £7.50.