Jake Paul’s manager, Nakisa Bidarian, says a fight between him and Canelo Alvarez is “going to happen” either this year or in 2025.
Bidarian is confident that one of the U.S. State Commissions will sanction the Canelo vs. Paul fight as a professional match, pointing out that the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor match was sanctioned when they fought in 2017.
Money Grab
According to Bidarian, the Canelo-Jake Paul fight will have three-minute rounds. It would be a lucrative fight. What’s important is the fight happens soon before the 34-year-old Canelo (62-2-2, 39 KOs) loses to someone or his popularity diminishes.
It would be a disruptive type of match if it happened because boxing fans would be angry due to Jake Paul’s lack of credentials at the pro level. Losing to Tommy Fury, a domestic-level British fighter, and beating retired 58-year-old Mike Tyson isn’t enough for Jake to rate a fight against Canelo.
A fight between them would have a forgone conclusion and be viewed as a money-grab circus fight. It’s one thing for the 27-year-old Jake to be fighting an older guy like Mike Tyson, but fans would see it as a rip-off if he fought Canelo Alvarez.
No one would take the fight seriously without Jake beating a top-level fighter at cruiserweight or someone dragged up in weight from light heavyweight. With a net worth estimated at $250 million, Canelo isn’t hurting for money to be lured into a fight with Jake Paul, which won’t do as well as some think unless the YouTuber beats a high-level fighter first.
Jake Must Prove Himself
For Jake to be viewed as a credible opponent for Canelo, he needs at least one win over an active world-class-level fighter. Tommy Fury is NOT world-class, and Jake lost to him.
Options for Jake to Gain Credibility
– Gilberto Ramirez
– Jai Opetaia
– Artur Beterbiev
– Dmitry Bivol
– David Benavidez
– Noel Mikaelyan
Canelo’s fame is already in a downward spiral because he hasn’t been in a big 50-50-level fight since his fight against Dmitry BIvol in 2022. Canelo has been taking sure-thing opposition since, winning his last five contests. He’s chosen NOT to fight David Benavidez or David Morrell, and is cherry-picking his opponents at this late stage of his career.
His last opponent, Edgar Berlanga, was embarrassingly bad, a fighter with no experience against quality opposition, who sold the fight as a Puerto Rico vs. Mexico match, even though he’s not from Puerto Rico. It was a sad marketing gimmick, and the fight had no entertainment value, with the 190+ Berlanga in survival mode for 12 one-sided rounds. Canelo chose this guy and did nothing for his popularity. It showed that the Mexican star is picking from the bottom of the barrel for his opponents.
“1000% Happening”
“In terms of Canelo Alvarez, 1000% that fight is going to happen. Whether it happens this year or next year, that is one that is undoubtedly in the roadmap for Jake Paul,” said manager Nakisa Bidarian to the talkSport Boxing YouTube channel about a fight between Canelo Alvarez and Jake Paul destined to happen.
“Absolutely not two-minute rounds. Tell me what the most important sanctioning body is in America. What would you say it is?” said Bidarian when told that none of the four sanctioning bodies in boxing would sanction a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul.”
Canelo hasn’t said whether he’ll take the fight with Jake Paul, and it’s unlikely that he will due to the backlash he would receive. Unless Jake is willing to take on and beat one of the notable fighters at cruiserweight or light heavyweight, Canelo wouldn’t dare fight him because of the criticism he’d receive.
Canelo’s Asking Price For Fight
Jake isn’t about to fight a top guy at cruiserweight like Jai Opetaia because he’s not that type of fighter. He’s still a novice, bringing in audiences due to his social media reach.
“If they do Mayweather vs. McGregor, why wouldn’t they do Canelo vs. Jake Paul,” said Bidarian, pointing out that one of the State Commissions in the U.S would sanction a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul, given that the Nevada Commission sanctioned Floyd Mayweather Jr’s fight against MMA fighter Conor McGregor as a professional match, counting in the record books for their clash on August 26, 2017.
Bidarian is right. One of the state commissions would sanction a fight between Canelo and Jake Paul, possibly Nevada or Texas, but that doesn’t mean that the Mexican star will agree to the match. Canelo has some standards, and he would realize how the fans would react to this match if he agreed. However, if Canelo is offered a guaranteed $100 million+, he might be willing to set his pride aside to agree to this circus match.
The Mexican star would have to be offered a massive guaranteed purse for him even to consider doing it, and it would involve risk for whatever organization were to o
McGregor had NEVER fought a boxing match before and entered the Mayweather fight with a 0-0 record and no experience. The outcome was predictable, with Mayweather dominating the novice McGregor before knocking him out in the 10th round.
A Freak Show At Heavyweight
“He may at some point look at what someone called a ‘Freak show.’ He may look at doing exciting, disruptive things, like fighting an Anthony Joshua or a Daniel Dubois, but that is not in his current roadmap. He [Jake] will be campaigning at cruiserweight, and Canelo, to my knowledge, walks around at 190,” said Bidarian.
If Jake were to move up to heavyweight and prove himself by beating someone like Filip Hrgovic, Agit Kabayel, or Martin Bakole, a fight between him and Joshua or Dubois would be taken seriously. Since Jake won’t entertain that idea, it’s going to make a joke out of AJ or Dubois fighting him.
Anthony Joshua and Dubois would almost surely agree to a fight with Jake for the money. If Joshua were willing to fight 0-1 Francis Ngannou, he’d gladly agree to a match against Jake. Dubois has already reached out to Jake for a fight. It’s unclear whether the IBF would sanction the match for his heavyweight title.
It doesn’t matter what any state commission were to say. This would be about the IBF agreeing to a match involving the unranked Jake Paul challenging Dubois for their title. I don’t see it happening. The fight can happen, but probably not for Dubois’ title.
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