Former pro boxer and current trainer for Jake Paul, Benjamin “BJ” Flores, was shot during an attempted armed robbery in Colombia last Friday. Flores was shot in the leg and is thankful to be alive.
According to his Twitter account, Flores was at a red light in the city of Medellín when an assailant approached the vehicle he was in and held a gun to his head. Flores said he was able to move the weapon down and that’s when he was shot in the leg.
Flores went to the hospital and had the bullet removed from his leg.
“Armed robbery at Gunpoint… At a red light in Medellin Colombia on passenger side… Pistol to my right temple, I was able to move the weapon down and manage to only get shot in the leg one time. Hospital now waiting surgery to remove the bullet . Thank GOD I’m alive.”
It Was An Attempted Carjacking
In a separate Instagram post Flores stated that the suspects attempted to steal his wallet and watch, and that he “defended myself the best way that I could.”
Flores had a 39 fights in his pro boxing career over 15 years. He compiled a record of 34-4-1 with 21 KOs and challenged for for the WBC cruiserweight world title in 2016, and twice for interim world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight.
Flores remains in Colombia and will be handing out 500 meals to families in Medellín on Tuesday.
Flores Trains Jake Paul
Beginning in 2021 Flores became the trainer for YouTube celebrity Jake Paul. He guided the YouTuber-turned-boxer to a 6-0 record before a Feb. 26 loss to actual boxer Tommy Fury.
Flores, as all trainers are, was confident in his fighter’s ability before the fight, saying Paul punches harder and has a higher boxing IQ than Fury.
“Tommy’s got some really good attributes. He’s got hand speed and he’s been around the boxing ring for a long time, but I feel like he’s in with just a better athlete,” Flores told Sky Sports.
“Jake punches harder, he’s smarter, has a higher boxing IQ and I feel like he does a lot of things that will give Tommy a lot of problems.
“He’s never fought in front of the type of crowds that Jake has multiple times. He’s never headlined in front of 20,000 people. He’s never been the main event on a pay-per-view card or had a main spotlight fight. I don’t care what Tommy says, ‘no pressure’ whatever, he’s going to feel it on fight week.”
We know how that worked out for Paul, who conveniently had a rematch clause in the contract for the Fury fight. Probably suspecting, like most, that once he fought an actual boxer things might go differently.
Paul is 6-1 and he is a name, so he will continue to draw interest, as he’s figured out the game. He’s now involved in a back and forth with retired boxing champion Floyd Mayweather after a run-in earlier this month.
The two are smack talking about who’s afraid of whom, who jumped whom, etc. Odds are there will be a fight before too long. This is the game.
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