Jake Paul vs. Canelo Alvarez: Far-fetched or rational in one ($) sense?
Jake Paul vs. Canelo Alvarez?
Anyone who follows boxing knows that such a matchup would be absurdly one-sided, a crude, relative newcomer against an all-time boxing great. Mismatch isn’t a strong enough word to describe that pairing.
Paul is as aware of that fact as you are. Still, the YouTuber-turned-boxer-and-promoter has repeatedly called out the Mexican star.
Is he nuts? Far from it. He’s an astute businessman who sees an opportunity to make good money, which is what Paul’s boxing career has been all about.
Oh, he has trained diligently in an effort to learn the fundamentals of the sport and seems to have been blessed with natural punching power, which has allowed him to start his career 8-1 (5 KOs) against weak opposition.
However, his principal strength is self promotion. That’s how he has been able to earn more than all but a few boxers in spite of his inexperience.
So no one should be surprised when he calls out potential opponents who are well out of his league, including the 33-year-old Alvarez.
“I think it will happen at some point,” Paul told reporters in the lead up to his fight against Ryan Bourland on the Amanda Serrano-Nina Meinke card Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico (DAZN), “I’ve been talking about that for a couple of years now.
“It makes sense. He’s coming to the end of his career where he’s gonna want to make a lot of money.”
Paul, 27, also rolled a lot of eyes when he described himself as the “new Floyd Mayweather.” That’s a stretch on more than one level. Mayweather was the best fighter of his generation and earned around $1 billion, according to some estimates.
At the same time, Paul’s comment is understandable in one sense: Like Mayweather, many boxers and other combat sports stars want to fight Paul because of the payday they would stand to earn.
Retired Hall of Famer Carl Froch is only the latest big-name boxer to express interest in facing Paul.
A reporter asked Paul whether he believes Froch would actually fight him.
“Of course he would, he wants payday, of course,” Paul said. “All these guys would fight me, I’m the new Floyd Mayweather in the sport. Seriously. Because I make my own decisions, I know how to get the business contracts done, I do the biggest PPVs, and I’m my own boss, so I can move and go wherever I want.
“So yes, I am the new Floyd in this sport, and yes, everybody wants to fight me.”
“Everyone” is an exaggeration, but you get his point.