Jake Paul has been offered a world title shot against four-belt light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev after the social media influencer’s victory over Mike Tyson last Friday night.
It would obviously be a mismatch between Beterbiev and Paul, but it would be fun to watch, and the build-up would be interesting. Having the Saudis involved would make it profitable for both fighters.
Paul, 27, made it look easy, beating the former baddest man on the planet, Tyson (50-7, 44 KOs), in a one-sided eight-round unanimous decision at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Given how old Mike Tyson was, he never stood a chance.
He’d been inactive for too many years, and his age was too far advanced for him to be victorious against Jake or even any of the other YouTubers, like KSI. Tyson would have lost to almost any influencer boxer with the way he looked last night.
After the fight, Jake admitted having taken it easy on the 58-year-old Tyson, not wanting to hurt him after putting him in trouble in round three with several hard left hooks that had him on rollerskates.
Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) offered Jake the title shot, but it’s a fight that would likely require the Saudis to finance it for it to be worthwhile to the unbeaten undisputed champion. Would His Excellency Turki Alalshikh be interested in such a fight like this?
A fight between Jake Paul and Beterbiev would indeed be quite profitable due to the wide reach of Paul’s following on social media and YouTube. It would create a new fan base for the sport of boxing, which doesn’t receive as much attention in the U.S. and worldwide as it should nowadays. There are positives that could come out of a Jake vs. Beterbiev fight that boxing purists are overlooking.
“Jake Paul, what can you do in the ring against the current undisputed champion? Just know that I’m always open to any suggestions,” said Beterbiev on Instagram with his challenge to Jake.
Jake, who fights at cruiserweight, hasn’t shown any interest in fighting any of the world champions in that weight class and it’s unlikely that he would. None of the champions, Jai Opetais, Chris Billiam-Smith, Gilberto Ramirez or Noel Mikaelian, are popular and there would be no money for Jake Paul to make fighting any of them.
