Jake Paul at a press conference for his fight with Mike Tyson (Image: Cooper Neill/Getty Images for Netflix)
has shut down the prospect of a fight with Canelo Alvarez despite previous attempts to lure the Mexican boxing sensation into the ring. After watching Paul challenge and beat , previously unbeaten at 58 years old, Alvarez admitted he might consider an offer to face Paul in the future.
“You know, I feel sad about what I saw from Mike Tyson. Because at his age and everything, he can’t do that kind of stuff,” Alvarez commented. “But it’s business for them and it’s fine, whatever. I [did] think about it when I saw the fight, when I see that injustice. But we’ll see.”
However Paul took to social media with a scorching response as he questioned why he should give Alvarez such a financial reward. “Why the f*** would I give him the payday? When I beat him it would be the same bulls*** and lies…that Canelo was too small and Jake Paul paid him off,” he furiously tapped out on his keyboard.
This outburst seems to be a complete backflip from Paul’s earlier call-out where he had eyed a showdown with Alvarez post his bout with Tyson. “It’s Canelo,” Paul had confidently stated when asked about potential future opponents.
He went on to boast about the proposed match-up: “This moment will prove I’m the face of boxing, the largest attraction and me vs. Canelo at 200lb for the cruiserweight championship of the world is the biggest fight, arguably even bigger than me vs. Tyson, and it makes so much sense,” he said,
Adding fuel to the fire, Paul boldly predicted his own ascendancy as boxing’s premier star, assuming victory over Tyson was assured. “Canelo is on his way out. He’s going to want a payday and I want to show the world all the stuff I’ve been talking about beating Canelo is actually true and I’ll have the biggest upset in the history of boxing. We’ll fight to really see who is the face because after this event, I’m going to be claiming it,” proclaimed a defiant Paul.
More than 100 million viewers tuned into to watch Paul’s bout with Tyson, smashing records despite technical issues experienced by the streaming service. In a candid admission, Paul disclosed that he pulled his punches against the boxing legend when he noticed Tyson flagging, citing respect for his elder.
“I wanted to give the fans a show but I didn’t want to hurt someone that didn’t need to be hurt,” Paul stated. He went on to describe his realization during the match, “There was a point where he (Tyson) was not engaging back, I could just tell his age was showing a little bit. That violence war thing… that went away as the rounds went on.”
The controversial star also tackled his reputation head-on: “People just love to hate me. I intentionally say things for people to hate. That’s what I like to do. If people want to see more… give me a couple of months. I tried to give the best fight I possibly could. When someone’s just surviving in the ring, it’s hard to make it exciting. I don’t care what people have to say. It is what it is.”