Michael Buffer Praises Jake Paul For Attracting Young Fans To Boxing

Love him or hate him, Jake Paul's boxing career has breathed life into the sport of boxing ... and Michael Buffer is making sure to give El Gallo his flowers -- telling TMZ Sports it's great to see!!

We caught up with the voice of boxing out at LAX ... and while you can tell he thinks Jake is a madman for taking this fight, he can't help but gush over both Paul brothers.

"Jake and Logan are fantastic athletes. You know what Logan does with the WWE and what Jake does with boxing. He knocks people out and everything, and they both have massive fan bases."

Turning back to Jake, Buffer says he has a lot on his plate against Joshua ... adding AJ "has been, for years, the biggest puncher in boxing."

"He's a devastating puncher. So I got to give Jake a lot of credit for wanting to take this fight."

As someone who has seen some of the biggest fights ... what is some advice the 81-year-old would give Paul ahead of the bout?

"Work on your defense," Buffer said.

"He's really worked on his footwork and his hand speed and everything. He's about 6'2'' or something. He's not a small guy, obviously, a great athlete, and it's a big step up, but it's a step he wants to take. He controls everything he does, and he does it in a great way."

For fight fans hoping to hear Buffer do his world-famous phrase just before the main event ... unfortunately, our ears won't be blessed next month, as he has a prior obligation.